Kidney patients in Prakasam also look up to Pawan

​Ongole: Mahalakshmi, mother of a kidney patient from Kanigiri in Prakasam district, desperately looks up to someone like actor and Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader Pawan Kalyan to din her plight into the minds of the people at the helm.

In the wake of an agenda set for the government by Pawan to put an end to the trail of death and trauma being left by kidney ailments in the Uddanam region in Srikakulam district, Mahalakshmi seeks an outlet from the government to pour out her tale of agony, sorrow and hardship.

Mahalakshmi’s son Sivaramakrishna with both of his kidneys failed is battling his life and Mahalakshmi leaves no effort to save her beloved son. “We need at least Rs 3000 for bus fares, injections and treatment at Guntur for one visit.

We have to mobilize nearly Rs 50,000 per month by all means for meeting the treatment cost,” she lamented. She has to travel up to Guntur, 165km away, along with his ailing son, for dialysis quite often as there is no such facility within her reach.

“Travel in a bus for any kidney patient after undergoing dialysis is more traumatic and painful than the very process of dialysis itself,” she says. Mahalakshmi said they sold away properties to save the life of her son.

The treatment cost for her son is expected to come down to Rs 20,000 per month if a dialysis centre is established in Kanigiri, she said. The kidney patients in Kanigiri area are left with no option but to take a bus bound for either Guntur or Ongole.

“Although Ongole is 65km away, the road is bumpy and it’s a gruelling trip for kidney patients. According to information, dialysis centres are flourishing in Guntur as an offshoot of increasing incidence of kidney diseases in the neighbouring Prakasam district.

A patient said some hospitals in Guntur have been offering dialysis facility with 50 per cent concession to regular visitors.

The areas such as Marripudi, Kanigiri, Ongole, Kandukur, SN Padu, Addanki, Darsi, Podili, Chimakurti, Kondapi, Markapur and surrounding mandals are fast emerging as a hotspot for kidney diseases with the sobriquet as another Uddanam of Prakasam district. .

The lifespan for many people from the villages like Dharmavaram in Marripudi mandal got reduced to 30 years and death literally stalks these hapless villages.

As in the case of Uddhanam, teams from national level research institutes failed to come out with conclusive evidences on the exact causative factors for the incidence of kidney disorders. However, the local medical practitioners attribute the disease to consumption of ground water.

The ground water levels in these areas fall below e depth of 30 -90 meters and contain Strontium and Arsenic like heavy metals which are believed to be the cause for chronic kidney diseases.

In Dharmavaram village alone, around 40 people lost their lives because of kidney failures within a short span of two years, it is said. Dr. A. Srihari of Aneesh Kidney Centre in Ongole, said it could be the water which is triggering kidney ailments.

The government has setup two dialysis units at Ongole and Chirala in the district but they are not able to meet the increasing demand from the patients, said Brahma Gopala Reddy, sarpanch of Dharmavaram village. The demand from the civil society organizations and patients is increasing for dialysis centre at Kanigiri.

Ongole MP YV Subba Reddy has sent representations to the state and central governments for provision of a dialysis centre at Kanigiri. And, union health minister JP Nadda promised to concede his request sometime back. But his promise is yet to become a reality.

By: Nandam Naresh