Sri Vijaya Puram, Apr 20: In a letter addressed to the CS, Mr. Bhasker stated that the cost of airlifting a stretcher patient is approximately ₹3 lakh. Additionally for flight tickets of attendants and medical services onboard, it will cost around 4 lakhs, which is far beyond what a common citizen can afford.
He added that this financial burden has led to numerous preventable deaths, as many patients fail to receive timely treatment due to their inability to arrange funds.
He highlighted that the existing healthcare infrastructure in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands is severely lacking, which makes emergency evacuation a necessity rather than a choice. He also emphasized on the need of appointing Neurologist & Nephrologist in G.B Pant Hospital to reduce mainland dependency for Neuro and Kidney related diseases which has become common in A&N Islands.
Further, he mentioned that the MRI Machine in G.B Pant Hospital is non-functional from around one year due to which the patients of G.B Pant Hospital are being referred to INHS Dhanvantari for necessary scan where they have to wait for months to get a date, hindering timely diagnosis and treatment.
Mr. Bhasker exhorted that the healthcare budget allocated for Andaman & Nicobar Islands for the year 2023-24 is ₹370 crores. He suggested that even if 2% of this budget (approximately ₹7.5 crores) is allocated for the airlifting of critically ill patients and improvement of hospital infrastructure, it would provide much-needed relief to the Islanders.
Concluding his letter, Mr. Bhasker requested the Chief Secretary to immediately intervene in this matter and take necessary steps to prevent further loss of lives.
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