India has a very high burden of kidney and related ailments. A large and growing number of these people are likely to need dialysis over their lifetime. Nearly two thirds of those with acute kidney ailments die due to not having access to affordable dialysis care.

 

Dialysis has moved from a hyper specialty treatment to a common medical intervention sought by many in most Indian cities, large and small. There is an increasing need for dialysis among all classes, particularly among the lower socio-economic groups.

 

Dialysis is for life. A single dialysis session will cost on average INR 2000 at most mid-level hospitals. A patient with advanced renal conditions will require 2-3 sessions of dialysis per week. This calls for a monthly allocation of INR 20,000 to INR.24,000 in a family’s budget. While the wealthy can meet this expenditure quite easily, it is particularly hard for those in the poorer sections to find this money on a regular basis.

 

The Trust has partnered with St.Philomena’s Hospital, Bangalore in this initiative. The Trust having funded the acquisition of a Dialysis Machine for the Hospital, also subsidises dialysis sessions to the extent of 75%. This means that for every dialysis treatment for the underprivileged, the patient pays only Rs.500/- and the Trust pays Rs.1500/-. We have currently provisioned to subsidise 100 dialysis treatments a month.

 

Our contributions make a difference. However, there are many more needy people we can help if we can scale this program up. Make a difference by contributing as little as Rs.1,500/- (For one Dialysis) or multiples thereof.