For the first time, children affected by Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) in Kerala and who require spine scoliosis surgery will be provided all facilities for undergoing the surgery free of cost in the public sector, Health Minister Veena George has said in a statement here.
Special facilities are being arranged at the Department of Orthopaedics at Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram, for spinal scoliosis surgery, a procedure that could cost over ₹15 lakh in the private health sector.
A meeting was convened at the MCH here on Thursday to deliberate on the details of this initiative.
Complex procedure
Spinal scoliosis surgery is a complex procedure that lasts nearly 12 hours, to correct and straighten the abnormal curvature or deformity of the spine and properly align the shoulder and hips so that the patient can walk properly. The Orthopaedics department at the MCH here has performed over 300 such surgeries and is quite confident of taking over this initiative for SMA-affected children. It was decided to hire an anaesthesiologist specially for the programme through the NHM.
The Health department had initiated an SMA clinic at SAT Hospital earlier. SAT Hospital has recently been awarded the status of a Centre of Excellence for the treatment of children with rare diseases.
Senior health officials and administrators of the MCH, the State Nodal Officer for Rare Diseases and doctors of the Departments of Orthopaedics and Anaesthesiology were present at the meeting.