{"id":899023,"date":"2026-10-29T18:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T18:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/899023\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T18:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T18:20:10","slug":"keralam-govt-to-provide-lifelong-sma-medication-to-all-eligible-children-thiruvananthapuram-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/899023\/","title":{"rendered":"Keralam govt to provide lifelong SMA medication to all eligible children | Thiruvananthapuram News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"KeralamKeralam health minister K Muraleedharan Thiruvananthapuram: The state govt has initiated steps to ensure lifelong access to life-saving medication for all eligible children suffering from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), health minister K Muraleedharan told the assembly on Thursday.Replying to a submission by P K Firos, the minister said govt was implementing various measures under the Kerala Anti-Rare disease initiative (KARE) to ensure timely treatment and continued care for children affected by the rare genetic disorder.Govt started providing NatSmart, an indigenously manufactured generic version of Risdiplam by Natco Pharma, through the SMA clinic at SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram from Oct 19. The medicine, which earlier cost around Rs 5.5 lakh per bottle, is now available for approximately Rs 11,000, significantly reducing the financial burden on families.Govt has also issued an order to procure 2,159 bottles to ensure an uninterrupted supply of the medicine and enable more children to access treatment.Apart from medication, govt hospitals provide physiotherapy, respiratory therapy, breathing-support equipment, rehabilitation services and necessary surgical interventions for SMA patients.Currently, free medication under the KARE scheme is available to eligible children up to the age of 12. However, govt has initiated steps to extend lifelong access to the medicine to all eligible patients, the minister said.The minister also addressed the treatment requirements of the children of Arun and Shalmi from Kozhikode. Their sons, David Magnus Arun and Ethan Moses Arun, registered at the SMA clinic at SAT Hospital on Oct 6. As they have Type 2 SMA, they are eligible for free risdiplam treatment.Urgent steps are being taken to ensure their treatment with the approval of the state-level technical committee. They have already started receiving NatSmart on the recommendation of the doctor who had treated them earlier, the minister said.Necessary treatment and medication will also be provided to their third child, Oliver Jonah, under the KARE scheme once his medical evaluation is completed and his eligibility is established.Govt is also considering more comprehensive programmes in collaboration with the Social Security Mission to provide medical, financial and psychological support to affected children and their families. Ensuring uninterrupted treatment, continuous availability of medication and reducing the financial burden on families remain govt\u2019s priorities, the minister added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keralam health minister K Muraleedharan Thiruvananthapuram: The state govt has initiated steps to ensure lifelong access to life-saving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":899024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[376732,376722,376729,376723,376724,376734,375360,97,309275,376717,376716,375357,376713,364491,105651,376715,243,376731,375361,374635,376725,376718,222739,83863,288941,376728,117860,376719,376720,376714,376733,376727,78332,376726,376730,145234,376721],"class_list":["post-899023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-affordable-sma-drug-price-rs-11000","tag-arun-and-shalmi","tag-breathing-support-equipment","tag-david-magnus-arun","tag-ethan-moses-arun","tag-extending-kare-lifelong-access","tag-generic-risdiplam","tag-health","tag-k-muraleedharan","tag-kare-scheme","tag-kerala-anti-rare-disease-initiative","tag-kerala-assembly","tag-kerala-government","tag-kerala-health-minister","tag-kozhikode","tag-lifelong-sma-treatment","tag-medication","tag-medicine-procurement-2159-bottles","tag-natco-pharma","tag-natsmart","tag-oliver-jonah","tag-p-k-firos","tag-physiotherapy","tag-rare-genetic-disorder","tag-rehabilitation-services","tag-respiratory-therapy","tag-risdiplam","tag-sat-hospital-thiruvananthapuram","tag-sma-clinic","tag-sma-medication","tag-sma-treatment-access-up-to-age-12","tag-social-security-mission","tag-spinal-muscular-atrophy","tag-state-level-technical-committee","tag-surgical-interventions","tag-thiruvananthapuram","tag-type-2-sma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}