CHANDIGARH: For a person living with diabetes, a cut on the foot can slowly turn into a medical emergency. Nerve damage can dull pain, making injuries easy to miss. Poor circulation can slow healing, while infection can spread into deeper tissues and, in severe cases, threaten the limb itself. For hundreds of patients in Punjab, Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojana (MMSY) became the safety net when a diabetic foot problem escalated into a fight for recovery.
At 47, Harcharan Singh was battling advanced diabetic foot disease. Nerve damage had reduced his ability to detect injury, while infection had spread into deeper tissues. Doctors performed surgical debridement to remove infected and dead tissue and give the foot a chance to heal.
For another beneficiary, Veena, 57, poor circulation made healing difficult. Her ulcer progressed to the point where the foot was at risk of amputation. Surgery was required to remove infected tissue.
Four patients. Four different journeys. One frightening possibility: losing a limb.
But timely treatment gave all four a crucial chance to fight the infection and protect their limbs. Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh said, “Behind every statistic under Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojana is a human life—a father, a mother, a son or a daughter whose family is hoping for one more chance.
That is where Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojana becomes more than a policy on paper. For these patients, it meant treatment could begin without the immediate burden of an unaffordable hospital bill becoming another emergency.
