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OBJECTIVE
To Set up Dialysis Center at Ottanchathiram, Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu, India.
To provide dialysis to poor community at cost to cost basis.
COST
Cost to setup one Dialysis Center - 72,500$
DESCRIPTION
Dialysis is one of the first technological innovations in medicine - and the only treatment that does not involve transplant, and yet allows a patient with end stage organ failure to live long, healthy and productive lives. Currently, about 2.4 million people are alive on dialysis worldwide.
The number of Indians suffering from chronic kidney ailments has doubled in the past 15 years, and at present 17 in every hundred citizens suffer from some form of kidney disease, health experts have said.
The experts noted that several Indian population-based studies in the past estimated that some 150-230 persons suffer from End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) in every million people, and about 2,20,000-2,75,000 new patients need Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) every year. The number of patients undergoing dialysis in India is also increasing by 10-15 per cent every year, which majorly includes children too.
In India, dialysis is reserved for the very rich, or to those lucky enough to be eligible for full medical reimbursement. Everyone else faces crippling long term expenditure and descent into deep poverty. Even though about 70-80% of them actually start dialysis, resource limitations force about two-thirds of the starters to withdraw and be condemned to death. Most of these patients are young, in the prime of their lives - family breadwinners or homemakers. Losing them has devastating impact not only on the families but brings down the productivity of entire society and reduces the national income.
Estimates put the number of patients on dialysis in India currently at about 100,000. India's demand for dialysis is growing at a rate of 31 percent, compared to 6 percent in the US and 8 percent in the rest of the world. Mathematical modeling using data from comparable countries shows that if access to treatment was not restricted, this number would be approximately 1,100,000, highlighting a large unmet need.
The demand for dialysis is only going to go raise, and the society urgently needs to explore cost-effective and scalable solutions over a relatively short time frame. There is a global drive to find cheaper dialysis solutions, only then Indian patients will be able to get the full benefit of this lifesaving therapy.
Most people pay for their own medical treatment in India for kidney related or otherwise. Only people working for the government or large corporations have their medical expenses covered. While this is all right for minor problems that are transient, it can be a lifelong nightmare for chronic conditions.
The cost of one session of hemodialysis is about Rs. 1,200 when the dialyzer and tubings are reused. When a new set is used, it can be about Rs 2,000. This is probably the average cost across India. It could be higher in cities. For someone who does two sessions per week which is the bare minimum, the cost comes to about Rs. 15,000 per month. Add to this, the cost of Erythropoetin, lab tests, doctor consultations and other medicines. The total cost of treatment, then, is atleast, about Rs. 20,000 per month. The average Indian cannot afford this expense.
Many people who had to undergo the agony of knowing that a treatment is available but they did not have the money to pay for it. Or people who had enough money only for one treatments per week. They would come in for dialysis in a terrible shape, totally breathless because of the fluid build-up. Inevitably, you would stop seeing them after a few months.
Dialysis centers are available in private hospital which is not affordable for middle class & below poverty line population. Government hospital has dialysis centers, but it can't serve the demand because the number of patients can undergo dialysis with one machine is limited.
Hence, Rotary club of Dindigul proposes to set up dialysis centers all over the district and to serve the people with COST TO COST basis.
METHOD
Rotary club of Dindigul will set up dialysis centers and handover to the hospital run by TRUT / FOUNDATION with Nephrology specialists. The Trust / Foundation will operate and maintain the dialysis centers by collecting very nominal cost (cost to cost) from patients, which will be 70% cheaper.
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