New Delhi: Vice President M Venkiah Naidu and Union Minister of State for Health Ashvini Kumar Choubey honoured Madhya Pradesh with Health Care Excellence Award in a inaugural programme of 15th World Rural Health Convention held at New Delhi on Thursday. The state has been conferred with this award for providing low cost treatment to patients in the entire country. Director of National Health Mission S Vishwanathan received the award. The convention will be held till April 29.

During the last few years, the state government has made special efforts to provide expensive medical treatment to patients especially the persons belonging to economically weaker class. Free Medicine Distribution, Free Medical Check Ups, Dialysis units, Cancer Chemotherapy, State Illness Assistance Fund, Mukhyamantri Bal Hridaya Upchar Yojana, Mukhyamantri Bal Shravan Upchaar Yojana, National Child Health programme,Janni Express, Deendayal Mobile Hospital, Deendayal 108 Ambulance etc. have played an important role in getting this award.

Free medicines of minimum 300 types are being provided in district hospital, whereas minimum number of medicines in civil hospitals, community health center, primary health center and sub health center are 131, 107,71 and 24 respectively. Similarly, free medical checkup facilities of 48, 32 and 28 types are given in district hospital, civil hospital and community health center. ECG, sonography, echocardiography etc. are free in district hospital. Moreover, CT scan facility has also been started in Bhopal and the same is being expanded to other 29 districts.

Free dialysis facility for patients belonging to below poverty line and to patients of above poverty line at the rate of just Rs. 500 is being provided in all the district hospitals of the state from January 2016. Call center based Janni express facility is being provided in all the districts. Deendayal mobile hospital is functional in tribal dominated and backward districts.

A financial assistance of up to Rs 2 lakh is provided for treatment of 21 major diseases under the State Illness Assistance Fund. An amount of Rs 612 crore under the 66,808 cases has been paid from 2003 till now. Under the Mukhyamantri Bal Hridya Upchar Yojana, a sum of Rs 73.14 crore has been spent towards the heart surgery of 11,676 children till now. Besides, an amount of Rs 53.40 crore has been incurred for treatment of 1027 children under the Maukhyamantri Bal Shravan Upchar Yojana since its inception from October-2014. In addition to this, treatment has been provided to 8 lakh children up to the age of 18 years after the screening of 4.63 crore children under the National Child Health Mission Programme from 2013 till today.