Ceylinco Healthcare offers discounts on cancer treatment to 2.7 m people

Monday, 18 March 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ceylinco Healthcare Services Chairman R. Renganathan (3rd from left) and National Insurance Trust Fund CEO Sanath De Silva exchange the agreement in the presence of the senior representatives of the two institutions

Offers up to 25% off for NITF’s ‘Agrahara’ policyholders and their dependents

Ceylinco Healthcare Services Ltd. (CHSL) has announced that public servants holding ‘Agrahara’ insurance policies of the National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF) and their dependents are eligible for discounts of up to 25% on cancer treatments offered by the company.

Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between CHSL and NITF, ‘Agrahara’ policyholders and family members will be offered a 25% discount on room charges, a 20% discount on hospital charges for OPD chemotherapy, and 5% discounts on all radiation treatments, lab tests and radiological investigations.

These discounts are exclusively applicable to NITF ‘Agrahara’ policyholders who opt to go for radiation treatment from CHSL’s Linear Accelerator or Tomotherapy unit, as well as for chemotherapy, radioactive iodine treatment and brachytherapy, the company said.

The ‘Agrahara’ Insurance scheme was introduced by the Ministry of Public Administration, under the National Insurance Trust Fund. The scheme covers close to 900,000 government employees, semi-government employees and pensioners who retired after 2016. Taking the family members and dependants of its policyholders into account, it benefits more than 2.7 million people in all. The Gold and Silver packages of ‘Agrahara’ cover cancer treatment costs of up to Rs. 600,000 and Rs. 400,000 respectively.

CHSL offers five types of cancer treatment at its facilities in Colombo. One advanced form of radiation therapy is delivered through the Company’s newly-acquired linear accelerator, which is equipped for highly precise Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT). Another form of treatment is TomoTherapy which combines IMRT with the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) scanning technology, all in one machine. CHSL is the only company that offers TomoTherapy in Sri Lanka. Other treatments are Brachytherapy, which involves placing a protected source of high energy radiation directly within the tumour; Chemotherapy, where chemical substances are used to treat the disease and Radioactive Iodine Treatment for hyperthyroidism. It is delivered in a single dose and has minimal or no side effects.

CHSL’s new Clinac iX linear accelerator delivers significant improvements in precision and reduced treatment times, enabling its Radiation Treatment Centre to efficiently deliver wide-ranging radiation therapy treatments including 3D Conformal Radiotherapy, Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and MV based Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT). The most experienced and affordable private cancer treatment centre in the country, CHSL has successfully administered radiation therapy to over 5,000 patients over the past decade. The treatment facilities offered by the Company are estimated to generate a saving of $ 500,000 in foreign exchange per year. Besides its two radiation treatment units – the Ceylinco Radiation Treatment Centre and the Ceylinco TomoTherapy Centre, Ceylinco Healthcare Services owns and operates the Ceylinco Diabetes Centre, offering comprehensive screening, diagnostic services and medical care.