India, March 10 -- A 39-year-old haemophilia patient, who had internal bleeding in his right knee joint, travelled to Surat on February 20 to prevent lifelong disability. "The medicines for my condition are not available in Maharashtra anymore," he said. "I couldn't delay taking them or I would risk losing my leg. The last option was to get help from Gujarat."

It has been 15 days since his travel, and the bleeding has started again. "Given my condition, I need to take medicines at least twice a month to keep everything under control," he said. "But for the last three months, we have been struggling to get them. I cannot afford travelling to other states every time."

Haemophilia is a rare genetic disorder in which a person's blood is una...