By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Chronic blood disorder patients and their parents from Kerala’s Malabar region today unsuccessfully tried to march towards the Indian Parliament to press the central government for their long pending demand of free and expert treatment to them whom the state government has so far neglected.
The protestors comprising women and children under the banner of Blood Patients’ Protection Council (BPPC) submitted a memorandum to the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad demanding the government to provide free treatment to these patients suffering with deadly diseases like thalassemia, haemophilia sickle cell anemia, applastic anemia, leukemia etc.
BPPC has been fighting for better treatment to these patients of Malabar region for the last 15 years. The group has undertaken many agitations including a state secretariat march on February 28, 2001 with terminally ill patients demanding free and expert treatment from Calicut MCH. The Kerala Government has not shown interest to solve the problem. Now they have decided to take out a Parliament march.
Talking to TwoCircles.net Kareem Karassery, General Convener, BPPC, said: “For the last one and half decades we have been fighting for life saving drugs and expert treatment to these acute blood disorder patients but neither the state nor central government have so far heeded to our demand. So we have arrived here to highlight our issue at the national level.” More than 10,000 people are suffering from various blood disorders in Malabar region, he added.
The protestors have put 10 demands before the government. They include urgent prevention of genetic blood disorders and other birth disorders which are alarmingly growing Malabar area, setting up a health insurance for the complete treatment of acutely ill patients irrespective of their income or age limit, proper facilities for treatment of the related diseases at the MCH Calicut.