KOCHI: Dialysis patients from very poor families in rural pockets of the capital district can heave a sigh of relief. A mobile dialysis unit is all set to be launched in Thiruvananthapuram in mid-January. This mobile unit is the first of its kind to offer dialysis free of cost.The Navajeevanam free mobile dialysis unit, a joint venture of the Thiruvanathapuram District Panchayat and Sri Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust is aimed at offering dialysis facilities in panchayats.This will save the patients from travelling about 30 to 40 kms to a district hospital for dialysis which has to be done at least thrice a week depending on the state of the patient.Already they have to go through the pain of renal problems and the tedious procedure which takes about five to six hours. The mobile unit will help solve their travelling woes to an extent.“An a/c van fitted with two dialysis machines from Germany and all the necessary equipment is ready for the purpose. It will have a water tank on top and another tank for waste disposal,” said Ramani Nair, district panchayat president. "We spent Rs 50 lakh on this. Three dialysis can be done each day. The recurring expenses will be met by the trust, she said.“The dialysis is free of cost. The Sai Trust will select the poorest of the poor patients after conducting a survey and organise dialysis for them. The mobile unit will stop at one of the 30 primary health or community health centres each day. Door to door dialysis cannot be done as dialysis has to be done in the presence of doctors. We hope to take the venture to other districts too,” said Ananda Kumar, executive director of the trust.“We will also arrange the driver and staff, including, the nephrologist and technician, “ he said.“There are about 40,000 patients who require dialysis in Kerala and 50 per cent of them are below poverty line category. Dialysis is an expensive process with most hospitals charging anything from Rs 300 to Rs 1,800. The number of renal patients are increasing but the number of dialysis centres are few and far between,” he said.
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