Government employees and officers will now be given money to buy oxygen concentrator, CPAP and BIPAP machines. Not only this, retired workers will also get its benefit.
The state government has amended the Uttar Pradesh Government Servant Rules-2011 to include oxygen concentrator, CPAP and BIPAP in the list of artificial organs.
A total of 21 lakh serving and retired personnel will be benefitted by this. The state government will reimburse Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.20 lakh on the purchase of these equipments. Lung related disease is increasing rapidly due to corona pandemic and air pollution. In such a situation, oxygen concentrator, CPAP and BIPAP machines are required to maintain the level of oxygen in the body.
The committee headed by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) will consider and dispose of the applications related to reimbursement. Medical consultation and all necessary test reports related to lung disease will have to be attached with the application form. Two respiratory specialist doctors nominated by the CMO will also join the committee. Dr. Ved Prakash, chairman of the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, KGMU, says that people’s lungs are getting worse due to air pollution, smoking, excessive obesity and corona infection.
The damaged lung has difficulty in maintaining the amount of oxygen in the body as compared to the normal lung. In such a situation, they need oxygen therapy for a long time. In such a situation, one has to buy oxygen concentrator, CPAP and BIPAP machines. For the time being, the reimbursement of money on purchase of these by the government will benefit the serving and retired employees and officers.
Oxygen concentrator will be able to be changed after five years-
Since oxygen concentrator, CPAP and BiPAP machines are life saving devices and they can work well only for five years. In such a situation, the government has given permission to replace these equipments and get new equipments after five years. If the service manager of the company having this equipment fails to repair it and declares it defective, the workers will be able to replace it with a new one.
He will also give an undertaking to the government that he will not claim reimbursement for the purchase of these equipments for five years. He will deposit the same defective oxygen concentrator, CPAP and BiPAP machine with the CMO of his district and the CMO will deposit these defective equipment in the Directorate General of Health.
