Rs 2,500 monthly pension to be given to those suffering from duchenne muscular dystrophy: Haryana health minister

Chandigarh, December 27

Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Tuesday informed the state assembly that a pension of Rs 2,500 per month would be given to those suffering from duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder which causes progressive loss of muscle.

Vij was replying to a question raised during Question Hour by BJP MLA Aseem Goel on the second day of the Winter Session of the Haryana Assembly.

He said duchenne muscular dystrophy is an inherited disorder of progressive muscular weakness, typically in boys, and that its treatment was costly.

“We will give a pension of Rs 2,500 per month,” he said.

Goel, the BJP MLA from Ambala City, pointed out that financial assistance to those suffering from the disease was being given in other states like Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.

Seeking a concrete policy on the issue, Goel sought financial assistance to them.

Vij said the central government provided financial assistance of up to Rs 50 lakh to patients suffering from rare diseases, including duchenne muscular dystrophy, for treatment in health-care centres of excellence.

The central government has set up 10 centres of excellence, including at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, where the patients can get the treatment done.