BANGALORE: Today is World Kidney Day (the second Thursday of March). Since 2006, this special day for awareness about kidney is being observed in 50 countries, following the initiative of the International Society of Nephrologists and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations.

The purpose of World Kidney Day is to raise awareness about the importance of kidneys - an amazing organ that plays a crucial role in keeping us alive and well - and to spread the message that kidney disease is common, harmful, but treatable.

A group of patients in Bangalore, diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, have set up the Dialysis Trust of Bangalore with the objective of spreading awareness about the kidney, the importance of taking care of these organs as part of global public health efforts. Over 1.5 million individuals around the world receive dialysis or have had a kidney transplant. The Bangalore Dialysis Trust aimed at creating awareness about the kidney and its diseases, and in particular, drive home the message that with care and management, patients could lead normal lives, Nagaraj Achar, a trustee, told The Hindu . The trust will focus on helping reduce cost of dialysis and medication by networking with drug manufacturers and dealers.

Right now, the trust is a group of 50-odd patients at the Sagar Apollo Hospital. But they hope to cover patients in other hospitals soon and look beyond Bangalore to help patients learn to live with dialysis.

Poornima Vyasulu of the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, who has been on dialysis for the past four years, and is part of the trust, said, "we hope to dialogue with the hospitals and ensure standardisation of the dialysis and treatment procedure, raise funds to help poor patients manage their disease and help them access drugs cheaply and regularly."

Mr. Achar said the trust would launch short-term training programmes for counsellors and volunteers, who could help newly diagnosed patients come to terms with their disease, and ease them into living with kidney disease.

In time, the trust would sport a website, and run a gamut of activities for patients as well as the general public. Nephrologists and specialists will be part of the trust too.

Mr. Achar can be contacted at 1706, 14th Main, 30th Cross, Banashankari II Stage, Bangalore - 70 (ph: 26710872). Poornima Vysasulu can be contacted on ph: 9845231797.

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