Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University K. Ramnarayan launched the subsidised cardiac surgery programme for the poor called Manipal Hrudaya Suraksha Scheme 2011 here on Monday.
The scheme entails 100 cardiac surgeries to be performed in 2011 with an 80 per cent concession.
The first case would be done free of cost. Mr. Ramnarayan handed over the letter of sanction to the first patient, a two-and-a-half-year-old child Chaitanya for free treatment.
Under the Manipal Hrudaya Suraksha Scheme, the cost of the cardiac surgery of the patient will be shared by Kasturba Hospital, Manipal Foundation, and the patient. The cost would be shared on participation basis.
For an open heart surgery for adults, the cost charged would be Rs. 30,000 (actual cost is Rs. 1.10 lakh), while for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) for paediatric patients, would be Rs. 20,000 (actual cost of the surgery is Rs. 1.10 lakh).
Mr. Ramnarayan said the Manipal Hrudaya Suraksha scheme would enable the poor and the needy from this region to have access to quality care.
The Manipal Hrudaya Suraksha scheme was first launched in 2009 and has provided benefits to more than 100 patients of various age groups till now. The total billing was Rs. 83.30 lakh and a concession of Rs. 58.80 lakh was given to the beneficiaries.
Medical Superintendent of Kasturba Hospital R.R. Pulgaonkar, Head of the Department of Cardiology R. Padmakumar, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon Shirish Borkar, and Head of the Department of Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Surgery Ganesh Kamath, were present.
