Mumbai: BMC’s public health department has written to hospitals asking them to refer patients to public-private partnership (PPP) dialysis centres as and when needed. The rates for the 10 facilities range between Rs 250 and Rs 540 on the higher end, lower than many of the private facilities. Many of them have started in recent years after BMC’s push for PPP models.The department stated that chronic kidney disease has become an increasing public health hazard across the country and that patients suffering from diabetes and hypertension have a higher probability of contracting this disease. It also said that there has been an increase in the number of patients availing dialysis services for end-stage renal disease.“Keeping the need for dialysis services in mind, centers have been started at various locations by private institutions through the public health department under the PPP… 40% of the total patients receiving dialysis treatment in these centers are reserved for patients referred by BMC,” the department said.Data from a few years back showed that civic hospitals performed over 30,000 dialysis sessions every year. Last year, KEM alone performed 11,249 dialysis sessions. “We have a lot of admitted patients who require dialysis. For most part, we are running full shifts almost all the time. We have 15 dialysis stations and additional in the ICU,” said a nephrologist from the hospital.The doctor added that Maharashtra has a large number of end-stage renal disease patients who just cannot survive without a therapy which supplements their renal function, which is either dialysis or transplant. “The most close option for them is dialysis; they reach us either when they are starting or when complications arise. Mostly, people prefer visiting centres close to them dialysis,” the doctor said.
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