Page 50 - 15NOV2019E

Internet disruption

costs them health

n August 5, 2019, Indian gov- Patients suffering from life-threatening diseases in the state fail
ernment scrapped Article
370 and 35-A that provided to benefit from Ayushman Bharat due to disrupted online services,
the special status to the reports safina nabi
O state of Jammu and Kash-
mir. All the communication and internet
services were blocked. Normal life came
to a complete halt and all the sects of so-
ciety since then are facing tremendous
trouble. Patients who are suffering from
different life taking diseases are torment
economically as well as mentally. Fami-
lies who belong to below poverty line
(BPL) families are selling valuables to
meet their medical costs.
Zoona Begum 59 had a kidney failure
six years before due to high blood pres-
sure and diabetes. Since then she is sur-
viving through dialysis treatment. Her
son is a daily wager who used to spend
all his income on her health till Octo-
ber 2018 and they were managing their
livelihood somehow. In October 2018
they came to know about the Ayushman
Bharat health scheme and after proper
documentation and authorization Zoona
received a ‘Golden Card’. photos: safina nabi
With this card, she now was avail -
ing the free dialysis treatment from the says her son with a sigh. accompanied by his son (Prince) who
Khyber Hospital Srinagar till August The procedure to receive the free dial- works as a salesman in a local business.
2019. Ayushman Bharat health scheme ysis treatment is based on the availability Soon doctor’s informed them about the
is completely managed through internet of the bed. A patient has to register with card and they started to avail the facility
services and if the service is not avail- a hospital, check for the vacancy and if but this facility came to an end in August
able one needs to pay to go through the the bed is available then the patient is as the internet services stopped to work.
dialysis treatment. Zoona’s son is not in a registered with the hospital. Without the “We belong to BPL families and we
position to earn anything since the entire golden card every patient has to spend are already suffering every day. We don’t
valley of Kashmir is under continuous Rs2500 per dialysis and every patient has have enough to eat, how will we arrange
curfew and restrictions are imposed by to repeat this four hour treatment twice money in conditions were we don’t even
the security forces throughout. in a week. go out forget about going to work. By
“I am trying to manage my mother’s Ghulam Hassan Parray, who hails stopping the medical facilities they are
dialysis now through different means. from Soiteng, Srinagar, is also surviving putting us in more trouble,” says Prince.
I have spent all my savings in past two through dialysis only since January 2019. In Srinagar’s different hospitals like
months and now I have to take credit as Dr. Tajamul who treated him for four Florence hospital, Kidney hospital etc
well. We don’t have a stable source of in- years finally decided on medical grounds patients receive dialysis treatment but
come and dialysis is not a onetime treat- that Parray needed dialysis as no other Khyber hospital in Srinagar’s Khanyar
ment and this makes us suffer everyday,” treatment worked. Parray, who is 76, was area is the one hospital with huge flow

Tehelka / 15 november 2019 50 www.Tehelka.com