J&K: Kidney patients in Poonch receive free dialysis, thank Modi govt

Jammu, Nov 26 The Prime Minister Dialysis Unit installed at Raja Sukhdev Singh District Hospital in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has come as a boon for the local residents as well as those residing in remote locations across the Line of Control (LoC). Thousands of kidney patients are taking advantage of the Centre-run scheme.

The Raja Sukhdev Singh District Hospital in Poonch (situated near the LoC), was established under the Pradhan Mantri Dialysis Scheme. Today, scores of kidney patients from the town as well as those from remote locations near the border are visiting this centre to get dialysis done, free of cost.

Earlier, they had to go to Chandigarh, Delhi, Jammu or Srinagar for dialysis, burdening them with extra travel expenses. But, that is no longer the case. They are getting free dialysis at this centre and also saving time on this.

Dr Nusrat-ul-Nisa, Medical Superintendent of Raja Sukhdev Singh District Hospital, said that hundreds of people are benefitting from the dialysis unit and the hospital staff are also providing services to the people, day and night.

“This month, more than 200 sessions have been completed. More than 39 patients have received treatment. On certain occasions, special emergency camps are also held, and hospital workers spend extra hours providing free dialysis.

Lal Hussain, a Poonch local whose wife Shakina Begum has been getting dialysis for the last 2 years, told IANS that he and his family are very grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching such a scheme in their town.

“We are poor people, how can we afford to visit Jammu, Chandigarh and Delhi every month to get dialysis done? The opening of a dialysis centre in Poonch has greatly benefitted us,” he said.

Notably, the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PMNDP) was launched in 2016-17 to provide dialysis services, free of cost to those below the Poverty Line (BPL) at the district hospitals across the country.

It is important to note that the program has been implemented in all 36 states/UTs in 641 districts at 1350 dialysis centres with the deployment of 8,871 haemodialysis machines, till 31st December 2022. A total of 17.27 lakh beneficiaries have availed of free dialysis services till December 2022.