2 lacs to 2.5 lacs people require treatment for kidneys every year in India, Secretary Health

Chandigarh, March 12, 2015: On the occasion of World Kidney Day, nine years old kidney transplant patient and Home-cum-Health Secretary, Chandigarh, Anurag Agarwal released  Urologist and Kidney Transplant Surgeon at Fortis Hospital Dr Priyadarshi Ranjan’s information booklet of kidney health.

The book describes the various symptoms of kidney diseases, their basic tests and the warning signs when a kidney specialist should be consulted. It also entails the symptoms of common kidney disorders such as kidney stones, kidney cancer, kidney cysts, kidney obstructions, chronic kidney disease due to diabetes and hypertension, kidney failure and various other kidney ailments.

Joining hands with the UT Home Secretary and Fortis Hospital Mohali was nine-year-old Vishal Kumar from Kaithal, Haryana, who recently underwent a kidney transplant at Fortis Mohali. Introducing the young warrior Dr Ranjan said that Vishal was suffering from end-stage kidney failure since the age of eight and his mother Kamlesh donated the kidney and both of them are doing well.

Speaking at the event Anurag Agarwal said that in India, about 2.20 lacs to 2.75 lacs new patients need treatment for various kidney diseases every year. It is estimated that there are about 5.5lacs patients on dialysis in India and this population is growing at the rate of 10-20% annually. Compared with the developed world, the mean age of patients requiring treatment in India is lower, comprising individuals in the most productive years of their lives, often the sole wage earners of families with multiple dependents. “Thus, initiatives like launching this information booklet go a long way in spreading awareness and fighting the disease in time,” he said.

Dr Ranjan added that one in every 10 adults in India suffers from chronic kidney disease (CKD), and at any given point, nearly five lakh patients are in need of life-long dialysis or transplant. Only 6,000 patients received new kidney and another 30,000 could afford or get access to dialysis. For the remaining 4.5 lakh, there was no definitive treatment and their survival was difficult beyond a few weeks, he said.

He added that the kidney diseases were more common than stroke and diabetes, and of a magnitude almost equal to diabetes. The cost of treatment for an average patient is many times more than treating diabetes and stroke. However, “Just two simple tests to check the level of protein in urine and a blood test for measuring serum creatinine once a year can help prevent the disease. If the tests are normal, they can be repeated after a year, and if there is any abnormality, preventive care at the early stage can be helpful,” said Dr. Ranjan, who is also president of the Chandigarh Kidney Foundation. He added that since most of the kidney diseases are asymptomatic initially, so we need to be very careful to recognize their symptoms, so that the diseases can be treated at an early stage. Most people do not even know that the two most common causes of the disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. Thus every year second Thursday of March is celebrated as the World Kidney day, across the globe wherein the health care professionals create awareness for the cause.