High costs a worry for renal failure patients - Times of India PDF Print
MUMBAI: Experts estimate that over 2 lakh Indians develop end-stage kidney disease every year. But less than 10% of these can afford treatment because of the high costs.

Suresh Katti, a 28-year-old living in Shiv Shakti Nagar, Nariman Point, is one of those suffering from end-stage kidney disease.

He is lucky to have a ready donor in his mother, Ambavva, but the family does not have the financial resources to fund the operations. "I used to work in a restaurant until my kidney problem was diagnosed in 2013," the youth said. "Thereafter, I have been undergoing dialysis twice a week, costing Rs 25,000 a month."

His doctor suggested that transplant would be the less expensive and better solution.

"But we are bankrupt," Katti said, adding that his only hope is "support from" fellow Mumbaikars.

An estimate prepared by the doctors states that the twin operations — removing a kidney from the mother and then transplanting it to the son —will cost up to Rs 6 lakh as the recipient's surgery alone will cost Rs 4 lakh.

"It doesn't include the cost of pre-transplant dialysis and donor evaluation," a letter signed by Dr B V Gandhi, director of the department of nephrology with Jaslok Hospital on Pedder Road, said.

The Katti family has now begun seeking donations (cheques to Jaslok Hospital Research Centre for Suresh, MR No: 953860). "My hope is that Mumbaikars will help me undergo the operations scheduled for April 30," Katti said.

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