Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala-based KIMS Hospital and Merlyn Foundation on Saturday announced a joint scheme to perform 100 free heart operations for poor patients in the state.
The eligible patients would be selected by a screening committee headed by eminent cardiologist Dr G Viajayaragahavan, KIMS CMD Dr M I Sahadulla and Merlyn Foundation Chairman and Dubai-based NRI entrepreneur Jalaluddin told reporters here.
The scheme would be open to "curable heart patients" in Kerala falling under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. Apart from income criterion, younger persons would be given preference as the aim of the scheme was to help the patients lead a normal working life after the surgery, they said.
The applicants could obtain the details of the scheme by contacting on the designated persons Sreeraj and Jagal on telephone no: 9633231860 and 9846015352.
The multi-speciality hospital would provide all its facilities to the chosen patients for by-pass surgeries or angioplasty, which in normal course would cost about Rs 1 lakh, they said. Kerala was said, to have the highest number of heart patients in the country and many of them were finding it difficult to get the treatment on account of financial difficulties. The scheme was meant to help the most deserving among them, Dr Vijayaraghavan said.
KIMS had spent Rs 21.08 crore in the last ten years on free medical aid schemes as part of its corporate responsibility programme, Dr Sahadulla said.
PTI