IFFCO-Tokio row: Patients protest after pvt hospitals halt services

Srinagar, Sep 05: Patients from different areas of Kashmir on Thursday protested at Srinagar’s Pratap Park over the suspension of services by private hospitals and dialysis centres under AB-PMJAY SEHAT after private insurance company IFFCO-TOKIO failed to comply with High Court directions.
Dialysis and cancer patients gathered at the park and held a protest. They appealed to the govt. to resolve payment issues of private hospitals and diagnostic centres, who have stopped services under AB-PMJAY SEHAT Scheme from September 02.
Tahir Ahmad Shah, a patient from Awantipora said that the PMJAY was the only hope for the poor people in J&K and patients have been suffering over the past five days.
“I am a kidney patient. I require three-dialysis in a month and I can’t afford it. I am unable to work. We are suffering badly and the situation is worsening day by day,” he said.
Javid Ahmad, who took part in the protest, appealed to the government to take a decision immediately so that they do not suffer anymore.
“One dialysis costs Rs 1600. My mother is ill and is on dialysis. The government should have taken appropriate steps over the past six months so that patients should not have reached this stage to protest. They should felicitate the patients. Patients who do not afford one dialysis,” he said.
The patients also blamed the government over the delay in taking any decision saying it is injustice with the patients.
“We humbly request the government to restore the services. We are poor patients. We are being asked for payments at private hospitals that used to be free under the PMJAY SEHAT scheme,” they said.
Rafiq Ahmad, another patient who has been suffering from kidney disease for three years said the treatment is costly in private hospitals. “Care in Golden Card services is the lifeline for patients,” he said.
He said the government should release the payments to the hospitals saying there is limited infrastructure in public hospitals which is a reason why patients are compelled to move to the private dialysis centres.
The angry patients said they are already suffering a lot due to the disease and since the dialysis services have been stopped it has further added to the woes of patients.
“There is an alarming increase in cancer and kidney failure patients. The government run dialysis centres cannot accommodate all the patients,” the patients.
The Jammu and Kashmir Empanelled Hospitals and Dialysis Centres Association under AB-PMJAY SEHAT Scheme stopped their services from September 02 due to pending payments with State Health Agency (SHA) from March 2024.
Despite a High Court directive instructing IFFCO Tokio to ‘continue with the existing arrangement as per terms and conditions of the contract agreement’, the insurance company failed to comply.