Health Ministry plans dialysis units at district hospitals

The Union Health Ministry plans to start dialysis units at district hospitals with chronic kidney diseases silently adding to India’s death count.

“Inclusion of chronic kidney disease will be on the agenda of the empowered committee on the national rural health mission, which will meet shortly to decide the national targets for non-communicable diseases,” said Damodar Bachani, deputy commissioner in charge of national monitoring framework and action plan for non-communicable diseases at the ministry.

Because of India’s high prevalence of diabetes and hypertension, which leads to the kidney disorders, the government intends to offer treatment option in district hospitals for the masses.

“We plan to have dialysis facility at district hospitals. There is also another proposal of outsourcing the dialysis service to a private unit, if we face difficulty in setting up the unit in a public hospital,” Bachani told Deccan Herald.

Some of the top line hospitals which offer dialysis include All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Safdarjung Hospital and RML Hospital in Delhi; Post Graduate Institute for Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research in Puducherry, RIMS in Imphal and NIGRIMS in Shillong.

A 2010 government survey, carried out among 5.6 crore people, found 6.14 per cent of them having diabetes while 5.12 per cent has hypertension. “Every year, between 1,55,000-2,00,000 Indians require dialysis. But only 10 per cent get it. If left untreated, chronic kidney disease leads to end stage kidney failure,” commented D S Rama, chairman of the nephrology department at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi.

Even though dialysis cost between Rs 12,000 and Rs 30,000 in private set up, Delhi government is offering the facility at Rs 1,100 in at least two state government hospitals.

Besides kidney disease, the health ministry also plans to include chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders (COPD-lung complications) in its nation-wide target to reduce the increasing death burden due to non-communicable diseases, which account for 53 per cent of all deaths in India.

“We are preparing to bring COPD in the target list. People will be screened and treated for asthma and bronchitis,” said Mohammed Shaukat, deputy director general, at the health ministry on national programme on cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke.