After performing free cataract surgeries, the government of a state in India has turned its attention to the problem of joint pain.
Indian State to Provide Free Joint Replacements
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The Chief Minister of the Indian state of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, has announced that free hip and knee replacement surgeries will be undertaken for the elderly across the state.
According to the Mumbai and Bangalore newspapers (both called the Mirror) this is seen as a step towards alleviation of joint pain among the people in Maharashtra, India’s second-most populous state and third-largest state by area.
The program is believed to have been initiated by the Chief Minister himself. According to the newspapers, the state has set a 10-lakh cost target cost for knee and hip replacement surgeries as part of the program. A lakh is an Indian term meaning 100,000.
The public health department reports that there are almost 40 lakh people in the state suffering from joint pain. Of these patients about 10 lakh patients are believed to need to undergo immediate joint replacement surgeries.
The expenses incurred for the knee and hip replacement surgeries are between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh in private hospitals, a cost that few of the affected people are able to bear. Under this new program, they will now be able to get their surgeries done free of cost.
The responsibility for execution has been given to Ajay Danwale, M.D., dean of BJ Government Medical College.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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