Dialysis made affordable
Low-cost, quality dialysis will be one more reason for Thiruverkadu Medical Centre, on the suburbs of Chennai, to be sought after by the poor, as RC Madras West, D 3232, opened its 12-bed dialysis unit on the premises.
The Rs 8.5 lakh worth project was set up through a global grant from RC Colombo West, D 3220, and TRF. Tanker Foundation and Fairfax Financial Holdings also partnered in the initiative.
“Past RI President William Robbins (1974-75) had earlier inaugurated a maternity centre here. The medical centre caters to 21 villages in Tiruvallur district,” said its Chairman G Panchanathan. Each dialysis cycle costs Rs 375, benefitting nearly 800 patients every month.
Over 200 women are receiving vocational training in skills such as tailoring, jewellery-designing and computers at the facility. “Every 10th person is affected by a kidney ailment and the need for dialysis is huge,” said IPDG Natarajan Nagoji, thanking the donors.
The club had initially planned to install just four dialysis machines due to resource constraint; “but fortunately, we received sufficient funds to even raise the floor level of the centre to prevent flooding during the monsoons,” said Club President Sashi Menon.
Fairfax Chairman Prem Watsa recalled how PM Narendra Modi had earlier urged him to set up at least 1,000 dialysis units as part of their CSR activities.
“Madhavan Menon (Country-head, Thomas Cook) and Dr Georgi Abraham (Founder-trustee, Tanker Foundation) also associated themselves with us in the initiative,” he said.
