Endosulfan victims to get free medical treatment

Thiruvananthapuram, May 25 (UNI) Kerala Health Minister P K Sreemathy today said all the victims affected by the use of the killer pesticide, Endosulfan, will be given free medical treatment He said the government will rehabilitate those affected by the pesticide in the northern district of Kasargode.

''The victims of Endosulfan had been issued disability cards and those possessing it would be eligible for free medical treatment anywhere in the state,'' she told a meet-the-press-programme here.

The Kasargode District Panchayat had prepared a project for rehabilitating the Endosulfan victims and this project would be implemented at the earliest, she said.

The indiscriminate use of the pesticide in the cashew plantations in Kasaragod by Plantation Corporation of Kerala had created serious health hazards in some villages.

Claiming that a ''model hospital'' would be started in each assembly constituency within six months, Ms Sreemathy said the hospital would have all modern facilities including specialty doctors. She clarified that no new hospital would be started but the existing health centres or other centres would be developed as Modern hospitals, she added.

She also suggested that a fund would be formed through which the poor people could be helped in cases of treatments where huge amounts are needed, like the treatment of cancer or heart diseases.

currently, there are lot of organisations and individuals helping the poor patients, she said and added that such a fund would be helpful to a larger population.

Asked about the rise in AIDS cases in the state, the minister said funds were not a problem as far as AIDS cases were concerned.

what needs to be seen is whether free treatment could be imparted to the needy.

UNI PN VV SB KP1636