HYDERABAD: The Welfare Association for Kidney Patients has requested the state government to issue pensions to kidney patients and provide accommodation facility for them to commute to the city for treatment.
The association further urged the government to provide interest free loans to the patients, who are educated, which would help them find their source of income.
Marking the ‘World Kidney Day’, the association organised a function at Tyagaraya Gana Sabha here on Sunday.
“The procedure followed for kidney transplantation should be simplified, role of middlemen should be cut down. The patients are accompanied by their families during treatment at hospitals, but there are not allowed to stay there. Provision of hostels would be of help in such situations,’’I Mamatha, president of the association, said.
A GO, which allowed the patients to undergo dialysis under Employee State Insurance Scheme from 2006 was cancelled in last November. ‘’We request the Union labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya to revoke the GO. As of now 23 kidney patients depend on it,” she said.
Scores of patients, who assembled at the function, shared their ordeals they went through because of dialysis, and how they overcame.
Ravi, a kidney patient, said that he was depressed during initial stages of dialysis treatment, but accepted the procedure as a part of life and moved on.
“You need to forget about the ailment after four hours of treatment at the hospital. Consider it as just a part of life, but don’t make it your life,” Ravi said.
Instilling confidence among other participants, another kidney patient K Shanti, said they should not get depressed in life because of the ailment. “It is just one organ of your body is facing problem. Act normal and carry on with your life,” Shanti said.
To discuss their problems and share advances in kidney treatment, the association would hold a meeting every second Sunday of a month.