Chennai: The looming threat and fear of coronavirus has pushed people back inside their homes.
The year 2020 showed us limitations in the healthcare infrastructure, unable to support critical healthcare issues. The lockdown affected transportation, access to health care facilities, and availability of medicines and consumables as well as outpatient and inpatient services.
Unfortunately, the second deadlier wave this year has had a worse impact which is seen on care of patients with non-communicable diseases, including those suffering from kidney-related ailments.
There are about 20 lakhs kidney disease patients added in India who require 34 million dialysis sessions every year.
According to a recent Kidney International Report, a survey was conducted to determine the effect of lockdown on the care of patients with kidney disease. Approximately 710 (28.2 per cent) patients missed one or more dialysis sessions, 69 (2.74 per cent) required emergency dialysis sessions, 104 (4.13 per cent) stopped reporting for dialysis, and 9 (0.36 per cent) were confirmed to have died.
Outpatient attendance in the surveyed hospitals came down by 92.3 per cent, and inpatient service reduced by 61 per cent. Tele-consultation was started but was accessed by only a small number of patients.
“With the rising cases of CKD in India, it is important for medical practitioners to take a step further and address patient needs by providing the best treatment for dialysis. Peritoneal Dialysis is an advanced dialysis technology that not only avoids the substantial costs of infrastructure set up, maintenance and staffing but it reduces the pressure on overall healthcare system at a time when the world is already fighting a global pandemic. And for patients it offers the much-required relief from regular hospital visits in the current scenario problem arises,” said Dr Saravanan, consultant nephrologist, Abirami Kidney care center, Erode.