This “World Kidney Day” doctors from Manipal Hospitals took a pledge to a “gift life” to children by offering 10 free
pediatric transplants. The Hospital also announced special transplant packages for the first 100 deserving adult and pediatric patients at Rs. 4,00,000. Manipal Health Enterprise, India’s 3rd largest healthcare chain, the hospital organized the event to highlight the cause of organ donation. Present at the event were Mr. Amit Upadhyay- father of Yatharth Upadhyay (who become immortal in the age of 3 years by saving 6 lives after his death through the power of organ donation) along with Radhika Pandit – leading Kannada film actress. ‘Gift of Life’ as this campaign is called is aimed at syndicating a consensus towards the benefit of organ donation this “World Kidney Day”.
In recent times, kidney related diseases have become epidemic in nature. The treatment of chronic kidney disease is often recurring and expensive. Thus Manipal Hospitals advocate an ounce of prevention than a ton of cure. During the event Manipal Hospitals also shared knowledge on preventive care in an effort to make people aware about its benefits.
In a country that hosts a population of 1.3 billion the organ donation rate is 0.08 per million i.e. less than 1 in a million Indians are Organ donors. However things are changing and even though states like Tamil Nadu have done very well in cadaver transplant Karnataka is catching up and hopefully will do even better with the awareness program. In India, 140,000 people are involved in road accidents every year. Of these 67% suffer head injuries and possibly end up brain dead i.e. almost 93000 people are brain dead every year. Each brain dead donor has the opportunity to donate organ to 13 other people which benefits dozens of families.
According to Dr. Sudarshan Ballal-Medical Director & Chairman – Medical Advisory Board, Manipal Health Enterprises, “Yatharth is alive in six of us today. At 3 years he showed us the way and it wouldn’t have been possible if his parents didn’t come to the fore and took this decision. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Kidney ailment is becoming epidemic in nature and it is one of the organs that can be donated to treat an irreversible medical condition. Let this event-where we pay an ode to Yatharth and his family, be a genesis of many such future success stories”.
“I am honored to be part of such a noble event. There is no greater thing than gifting a life and giving someone a second chance of life. Manipal Hospitals has walked that extra step to attain that feat. Yatharth showed the way and the 10 pediatric transplants planned is an unparalleled act of gratitude to the cause of life. I am thankful to Manipal to make me part of such a cause.” said leading Kannada film actress Radhika Pandit
Manipal Hospitals, the Department of Nephrology& Urology is leading the way in treating patients with kidney disorders. It is one of the best in the country offering comprehensive renal care. The department houses one of the largest dialysis center in the country which performs over 50,000 dialysis on patients from India and abroad every year. It has also successfully conducted thousands of kidney transplants and is vastly experienced in chronic peritoneal dialysis. The department also boasts of a unique service “Dialysis of Wheels”—a state-of-art mobile dialysis unit that facilitates Hemodialysis at home.
