Introduction

In a typical Kerala household, when someone is diagnosed with a chronic illness — cancer, kidney disease, heart trouble, or schizophrenia — the first reaction is shock. The second is not emotional, but economic:

“How are we going to afford this every month?”

In a state known for its health infrastructure, many still fall through the cracks. The Shamanam Free Medicine Support Program was built to catch them before they fall too deep — into debt, despair, or worse.

This blog explores how Shamanam is not just a health initiative — but an economic safety net.

The Cost of Staying Alive

Let’s break it down:

• Post-cancer medication: ₹4,000–₹6,000/month

• Psychiatric medicines: ₹1,000–₹2,500/month

• Post-transplant immunosuppressants: ₹4,000+/month

• Heart condition meds: ₹2,500+/month

• Parkinson’s, epilepsy, stroke rehab: ₹1,500–₹3,000/month

For a family earning ₹10,000–₹15,000/month — especially daily wage earners or single-parent households — this is a crippling cost. And these are not one-time expenses. These are monthly, lifelong.

What the Government Covers — and Doesn’t

Kerala’s public hospitals are among the best in India. Consultations and diagnostic services are often subsidized or free. But here’s the reality:

• Medicines often run out of stock in hospitals

• Outpatient prescriptions aren’t covered beyond basic essentials

• Post-discharge support is non-existent for the poor

• Mental health and neurology drugs are often expensive and out of reach

So a patient who gets treated in a government hospital is still at risk of relapse, re-admission, or dropping out of treatment — all due to lack of medicine.

How Shamanam Intervenes

Shamanam fills this crucial gap by:

✅ Offering uninterrupted monthly supply of life-saving medicines

✅ Ensuring zero cost to the patient

✅ Supporting over 700 patients monthly

✅ Saving families from chronic health debt

✅ Preventing secondary complications and hospital re-admissions

This not only supports the patient, but stabilizes entire families who would otherwise be pushed into poverty due to health expenses.

A Social Investment, Not Charity

What if we told you that ₹3,000/month could:

• Keep a patient out of the hospital

• Keep a caregiver at work

• Keep a child in school

• Prevent a mental health breakdown

• Avoid a surgical complication

That’s the return on investment Shamanam offers.

Every pill prevents a poverty spiral.

Every strip is a ticket back to stability.

Real Kerala, Real Struggles

• Basheer, a carpenter from Malappuram, supports his father’s Parkinson’s treatment with the help of Shamanam. Without it, he would have had to stop working to be a full-time caregiver.

• Elsa, a widow from Koyilandy, has been collecting her thyroid and BP medicines monthly for the last 4 years. It saved her from choosing between groceries and tablets.

• Deepak, a Class 9 student in Calicut, depends on epilepsy medicines from Shamanam to stay in school and avoid seizures.

The Bigger Picture: Health Inequality Is Still Real

Even in a progressive state like Kerala, income, caste, gender, and geography still affect access to healthcare. Shamanam’s role is to flatten those inequalities quietly — by ensuring that the poor have the same access to critical medicines as anyone else.

This is not just about health. It’s about justice.

How You Can Help

💖 Monthly Medicine Sponsor Plans:

• ₹1,000 – Mental Health

• ₹2,500 – Cardiac or Neurology

• ₹5,000 – Cancer/Oncology

🔹 One-Year Sponsorships:

Adopt a patient for ₹30,000–₹60,000/year

🔹 Emergency Support Pool:

Contribute to our medicine fund to respond to urgent needs

🔗 Join Shamanam as a Donor

Closing Note

In Kerala, healthcare begins in hospitals — but for the poor, it continues at the pharmacy. Shamanam stands at that crossroads, ensuring that treatment doesn’t stop just because the money does.

Let’s not just save lives. Let’s sustain them.