Last Updated on March 14, 2021 by The Health Master
NEW DELHI: Ashish D, an unemployed man from Kolkata, couldn’t control his tears when his free dialysis began on Thursday at Gurdwara Bala Sahib’s kidney dialysis facility in southeast Delhi.
The 41-year-old, whose kidneys are both non-functional, said, “I have been jobless for eight months now and it’s difficult to bring up my two daughters, aged one and 10 years.
I travelled from Kolkata to Delhi for cheap medical treatment, but the government hospitals have a long waiting list. I have spent lakhs of rupees at private hospitals in Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi.”
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managing Committee (DSGMC) also inaugurated the cheapest diagnostic facility in the city at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in central Delhi on Thursday. A patient from the economically weaker section can get an MRI done there for a mere Rs 50, while general people can avail the service for Rs 800-1,200. A CT scan, digital X-ray and ultrasound facilities are also available.
Registration for diagnostic services has begun on DSGMC’s website. Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Sikh body, said, “Our sole purpose is to provide treatment to people who cannot afford MRI elsewhere. We will initially be open for 14 hours a day, but plan to be 24-hours operational later.”
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The free 101-bed dialysis centre, which opened on Thursday on the occasion of World Kidney Day, has received nearly 2,500 applications from Delhi and other states. Ashish was among the 18 people who were able to have dialysis done for free at the Sikh facility.
Another was Delhi resident Raj Kumar Jain, who too began free dialysis on Thursday. He disclosed, “I worked as a driver but had to quit because of my kidney ailment. I had to sell my house and two-wheeler to fund my dialysis needs.”
The Gurdwara Bala Sahib kidney hospital has no billing counter. “Any patient can register online or walk in to avail free dialysis,” said Dr R Venkatesh, director of the facility. “Before conducting the dialysis, we first check them for HIV, Covid-19 and Hepatitis B and C. Patients from as far as Bengaluru, Punjab and Haryana have got themselves registered, confessing that they had sold their assets to treat themselves in private hospitals.”
The hospital plans to conduct 500 dialyses per day in five shifts. The nephrology team is led by Dr Ambar Chaira. To ease the burden on the poor outstation patients, the hospital has asked them to stay in the rooms at the gurdwara and have meals in the langar.
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