President A P J Abdul Kalam today urged the scientists to work on ways to activate stem cells to treat those suffering from renal failure.
''We have to work persistently to find a long-term solution to CAD through stem cell research,'' he underlined, while launching the Kidney Care Project of the CARE foundation here.
With increasing incidence of diabetes and hypertension, it was imperative to concentrate on creating public awareness on the causes of the disease and symptoms as treatment to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) was unaffordable to most people, he pointed out. Stressing the need for more mobile clinics for the benefit of people living in the rural areas, Dr Kalam said 15 people out of 1,000 have kidney disease and one lakh people go into endstage kidney diseases every year in the country requiring either dialysis or kidney transplant.
He said more than 60,000 patients fail to continue with dialysis due to financial constraints and lose their lives within a year in a slow and very painful manner.
Stating that hardly 5,000 kidney transplants were being carried out in the country, he stressed the need for building social acceptance of cadaver kidney transplant. As many as 80,000 accidental deaths occur every year, he pointed out.
Commending the CARE hospital for launching the pioneering Little Heart Project earlier for treating children with heart diseases, he said other hospitals in the country had started emulating the CARE foundation to provide financial relief to children of patients who could not afford treatment.
Dr Kalam expressed confidence that the new initiative of the CARE foundation would definitely help those suffering from CKD feel that they were not alone and make the treatment affordable to them.
Describing poverty as a social issue, he wanted everyone financially comfortable to liberally donate for the foundation.
Later, the President interacted with a team of cardiologists from Tanzania, undergoing training at the hospital and also signed his autograph on the portrait of Florence Nightingale, while talking to nurses from Manipur.
He also honoured Dr Ranganath Rao and Gopalakrishna, who performed the first kidney transplant in the city at the Osmania General Hospital and declared open a CARE Learning Centre.
Thanks to Dr Kalam's gesture of donating Rs one lakh to the Little Heart Foundation, people from different walks of life had contributed Rs 2.75 crore helping it operate 500 children so far, CARE Hospital Chairman and Managing Director B Soma Raju said.
Mr Soma Raju wanted Mr Justice B P Jeevan Reddy, who was supervising the functioning of the Little Heart Project to monitor the functioning of the Kidney Care Project too.
UNI SM ROY LR PC2036
