Help where it is needed 

KOCHI: Hundreds of kidney patients are forced to shell out a huge sum of money for dialysis, which is an inevitable treatment to sustain their health, but is also expensive and unaffordable to many. Sri Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust, one of the biggest NGOs in the state, has started an initiative to provide a helping hand to such underprivileged patients. It provides free dialysis to renal patients under their Navajeevanam free dialysis project. This Kerala-based NGO has successfully provided around 4.62 lakh free dialysis sessions for renal patients across the state over the past 15 years.

It was after visiting his friend Afra, who was suffering from chronic renal disease and learning about the huge amount required for his treatment, that K N Anandakumar, founder and executive director of Sri Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust Kerala, thought of helping patients with similar problems in 2004. “Soon, a meeting was convened at the Gandhi Bhavan in Ernakulam, to discuss the idea of setting up a free dialysis unit in the city,” shares Anandakumar.

In May 2006, at a function chaired by Justice V R Krishna Iyer, the free dialysis unit of Sai Orphanage Trust - Kerala was formally inaugurated by Therambil Ramakrishnan, the then assembly speaker. “Initially, the trust’s bank account only had a cheque worth `1,000 from Justice V R Krishna Iyer. We had promised life-long free dialysis to about five patients at Lakshmi Hospital, Ernakulam. Two dialysis machines were procured on rent.

The mission which began with five patients gradually expanded and the second phase of Navajeevanam was inaugurated by the president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam in June 2007 who promised to grant a mobile dialysis unit for the trust,” says Anandakumar.

After Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram got its free dialysis unit at Indira Hospital, Thampanoor, in 2009. Currently, the Navajeevanam free dialysis project has presence in 13 districts. As many as 5,168 dialysis sessions have been completed at the Government Taluk Hospital in Attingal, Thiruvananthapuram, one of the Navajeevanam free dialysis centres since its establishment in 2019.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, 41 projects were carried out by the trust across the state. One of them being a  free dialysis centre set up at the Saigramam Village at Kanhangad, Kasaragod. Over 25,000 food kits were distributed by the trust and free ambulance services were given to those in need.