KHAMMAM: Thalassemia patients in erstwhile Khammam district are seeking financial help from state government as they are unable to bear the expenditure of the treatment. Every patient has to spend about Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 every month on blood transfusion and medicines.
Patients should be administered 250 to 300 ml blood and iron tablets every 15 to 20 days. Sources said that there are more than 400 Thalassemia patients in Khammam and Bhadradrikothagudem districts and each patient is forced to spend huge money for blood transfusion and medicines every month.
Due to poverty, as many as three Thalassemia patients died in the last five months in Khammam district.
Among the 400 patients in the district, 300 patients are unable to bear the expenditure. Some government hospitals in Adilabad and Mancherial districts are providing treatment to patients under Arogyasri scheme, but in Khammam district hospitals, staff are refusing to provide treatment.
Wife of Tirupataiah, a Thalassemia patient who died recently, said that poverty claimed her husband’s life. She urged the government to provide facilities in government hospitals or provide financial assistance to them.At present, Sankalpa, an NGO, has come forward to provide blood and medicines to 175 patients of Thalassemia in Khammam district. Founder of Sankalpa, P Anitha, said, ‘’We are providing blood and medicines to 175 patients with the support of some donors, but a majority of patients are left out due to lack of financial support’’.