Daijiworld media Network - Udupi (JD)
Udupi, Oct 7: "All the 11 dialysis machines in Udupi are not working. Not only that, the same situation exists in 122 hospitals of the state. Is the state government sleeping? Is it not listening to the voice of the poor?" questioned union minister Shobha Karandlaje on Saturday October 7.
She was speaking to the media after visiting and inspecting the dialysis unit of Udupi district hospital. Karandlaje expressed her anger against the state government's failure to make proper arrangements for dialysis patients and said, “The dialysis beds are empty in Udupi district hospital. All 11 dialysis machines in Udupi are not working. Patients are going to the private hospitals for the past one month. The machines at 122 centers in the state of S K Sanjeevini have stopped working. The company had told the government that they will stop their services from October 1. The company even wrote a letter. There are no new machines, no repair work is being done, and health service is not being carried out in a proper way. The health department commissioner has no information on the situation. What is the government doing?
"If the poor are treated in a private hospital, who will pay the bills? This is the situation of all the dialysis centers in the state. The government should reimburse the dialysis bills of the patients. I cannot imagine the sad situation of the poor kidney patients of the state. Although the state government is aware of the problem, why is no alternative arrangement being done? Is the state government sleeping and not listening to the voice of the poor? If the state requests, the center will cooperate. The central government is ready to pay. The central government will provide new machines and training," she said.
Shobha Karandlaje even called the commissioner of the health department of the government of Karnataka and demanded to make the necessary alternate arrangements at the earliest.
Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna, Kaup MLA Gurme Suresh Shetty, district surgeon Dr Veena, and other health department staff were present.