Cancer Treatment in J&K: Health institutions to disburse financial assistance to poor patients

SRINAGAR — The Lieutenant Governor’s secretariat has ordered that health institutions shall disburse the financial assistance among the patients under the Cancer Treatment and Management Fund for Poor (CTFMFP) only.

The LG’s Principal Secretary, Bipul Pathak, who also heads Cancer Treatment and Management Fund for Poor (CTFMFP) has ordered that henceforth the hospitals/institutes shall disburse the financial assistance in favour of such patients against the sanction letter.

He has also directed that concerned hospitals/institutes shall consider recommending the financial assistance in favour of the patients thrice (i.e. once a year) during the course of treatment under this scheme.

“The committee is of the view that henceforth the concerned hospitals/institutes shall disburse the financial assistance against the sanction letter issued by the sanctioning authority only and the basic verification done by Deputy Commissioners prior to submission of application for committee’s consideration,” the letter reads.

The scheme was rolled out by NC-Congress government headed by Omar Abdullah in 2010.

Poor patients, falling under the income group of less than Rs. 2000 per month, are given financial assistance under the Cancer Treatment Fund.

The cancer cases are on rise in Jammu and Kashmir, official data reveals.

According to data, 3075 cases were reported in 2011, 3288 in 2012, 3157 in 2013, 3940 in 2014, 4257 in 2015 and 4976 in 2016.