New Delhi (Agency): Gujarat, a state in India, is witnessing a significant healthcare protest. On Monday, private healthcare centres in the state stopped providing dialysis treatments to patients under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PM-JAY) scheme. This suspension will last for three days and is in response to the state government’s decision to lower the payment rates for these services.
The state government, however, is taking steps to make sure patients don’t face any troubles. They have even started helpline numbers for people to call if they have concerns or issues.
Dr Umesh Godhani, who is part of the Gujarat Nephrologist Association, shared some details. He said that private centres handle a big chunk – about 80% – of the total dialysis treatments in Gujarat under the PM-JAY scheme. This adds up to nearly 1.3 crore treatments every year. Dr Godhani added that out of around 1.27 lakh patients who benefit from the scheme, about 1 lakh get their treatment at private centres.
However, there is a problem. The state government recently decided to pay less money to the private centres for every dialysis treatment – they reduced the rate from Rs 2,000 to Rs 1,650. Dr Godhani says that this isn’t fair because the cost of treatment has gone up over the years. He believes the rate should have increased, not decreased.
“To understand the concern, dialysis is a treatment for people whose kidneys aren’t working well. And in Gujarat, each dialysis costs more because of some rules and added medicines,” Dr Godhani explained. He is also worried because the money Gujarat is offering now is even less than what many other states in India give to their private centres.
Despite their attempts, the Nephrologist Association hasn’t been successful in discussing this issue with important health officials in the state. So, they felt they had no choice but to stop the treatments. Dr Godhani warns that if the government doesn’t address their concerns soon, all 120 kidney doctors in the state might stop participating in the PM-JAY scheme entirely.
But the state government says they are ready. Under a different program called the A-One dialysis programme, they have made 272 dialysis centres available for free to the public. Manoj Aggarwal, an important official in the health department, added that free dialysis is also available at some major public hospitals.
Mr Aggarwal also stated that the current payment rates in Gujarat are actually higher than in many other states. To help patients during this protest, the government has started helplines: 1800 233 1022 and 9059191905. People can call these numbers if they have questions or complaints.
“We did try talking to the private dialysis centres,” said Aggarwal. “We wanted to discuss the issue and find a solution together.”
It remains to be seen how this situation will unfold in the coming days and whether a mutual agreement will be reached.