Finally, funds in for more dialysis machines in state

Dialysis centre at Rugna Seva Sadan of Nana Palkar Smriti Samiti in Parel

All's not lost for those suffering from chronic kidney disease. After a delay of almost four years, the Siddhivinayak Temple Trust has donated Rs 7.6 crore for 102 dialysis machines, most number of machines to be procured in Maharashtra with the help of a trust's donation. Currently, there are 139 civic dialysis centres in the state.

The ball's rolling
In 2014, the state government had approved a proposal to donate Siddhivinayak Temple Trust's Rs 7.6 crore for setting up 102 dialysis centres across the state's 24 districts. The director of heath service had submitted the proposal to the trust for the funds. After scrutiny, the proposal was approved in 2015. But red tape held it back. Now at last, the state has passed a GR making it official.

Talking to mid-day, Sanjiv Patil, executive officer of the trust, said, "I don't know why the proposal got delayed so much, we were always ready with the amount. When we were asked to submit the money in January, we did it immediately. Now, all the responsibility of distribution and procurement has been given to Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing."

'Need of the hour'
Thousands across Maharashtra suffer from terminal kidney ailments, and over 3,000 are in the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre's waiting list for kidney transplant. But, the huge gap between demand and supply has left most in the lurch.

Sejal Jobanputra, 38, once a resident of a Walkeshwar society, has been struggling for 10 years to get a cadaver donor in Mumbai for her second kidney transplant. Explaining the need for more dialysis centres, she said, "A kidney patient needs dialysis every alternate day, which is very expensive. And because these centres don't come under the purview of any government body, they run as per their whims. At private centres, on the other hand, the procedure is not done properly. Kidney ailments are rising, so affordable dialysis centres are the need of the hour."

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