Chennai, Nov 9: Twentyone-year-old blood cancer patient from Kanpur Alka Tiwari is yet to be admitted to Christian Medical College Vellore for bone marrow transplant, but she and her brother say they do not have money.
After Alka sought euthanasia from a local court, the Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had promised her all monetary help for her treatment, but the promise did not materialise.
Tiwari on Nov 1 today underwent tests and check-ups in CMC Vellore but she is awaiting admission because she and her brother do not have money as promised by the government.
Her brother Braj Bihari Tiwari said, not a single rupee has been received from the government so far.
She was admitted to AIIMS but was discharged after a 21-day stay.
“We borrowed Rs 38,000 from relatives and through donations and reached Vellore on Oct 31 night,” Tiwari said.
“We haven't got Rs 20 lakh required for her treatment and will have to return in case we are unable to receive the money from the Centre,” he said.
Alka, who has appealed to a local court seeking the government either bear her medical expenses or she be allowed euthanasia, was shifted from Lucknow's Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences to AIIMS on October 5.
A slum dweller from Parmat area here, Alka's treatment includes a bone marrow transplant.
The officials of the Union Health Ministry had told her brother that the government cannot intervene with the treatment in a private hospital.
“However, they said they will look into the matter once I take her to Vellore, but I am still waiting for any kind of help,” Brajesh said.
Doctors said Alka has been suffering from blood cancer for the last nine years.
He added that before getting admitted in AIIMS, Tiwari was getting treated in Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow.
With the death of Alka's father in 1998, her 25-year-old brother has been earning for the family and bearing all her medical treatment expenses.
Says Alka: “My brother has literally become penniless because of my treatment. I am suffering for the last nine years. If the government can't help, why doesn't it allow me to die?”
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had promised to give all help. “Whether it is Rs 10 lakh, or 12 lakh or 15 lakh, the government will bear her expenses”. But no help has yet materialized.
Persons willing to help Alka Tiwari can send their contributions to :
State Bank of India A/c No. 31916932706
A/c in the name of : Alka Tiwari
SBI Gwaltoli branch, Kanpur
Alka's brother Braj Bihari's phone number : ᄧ 9335666904
Alka Tiwari's number : ᄧ 9616424280
