Kidney Federation of India is engaged in various activities to help kidney patients. These activities are purely indented for service and they are:
- Dialysis help:
KFI distributes financial help for dialysis to poor kidney patients. We issue cheques in the name of the hospitals and send them directly to the patients so that they can get dialysis done by presenting these cheques.
- Dialysis unit:
We have a fully operational dialysis unit with 10 machines attached to our central office. This unit is managed by Aswini Hospital Private Ltd. Dialysis is given to the patients completely free of cost.
- Cross donation:
When the blood group of the close relative does not match with the patient, they come and register with us. We help to find them a matching pair of patient and donor and facilitate swapping of kidneys. We have been successful in facilitating 25 such kidney transfers.
After Fr. Davis Chiramel donated a kidney, and inspired by this, the noted industrialist Mr. Kochouseph Chittialppilly also followed suit, many voluntary donors have approached KFI with their desire to donate a kidney to a patient out of humanitarian concern, without any monitory benefits. We evaluate the patients registered with us on our standard norms, and allocate the donor to the most suitable and deserving patient. Wherever possible, we try to create a kidney chain where a close relative of the recipient of the kidney donates a kidney to another kidney patient. 12 such donations have taken place so far.
- Awareness campaign:
Fr. Davis Chiramel revolutionalized the idea of organ donation in Kerala. He conducted three Manava Karunya Yathras from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram. The second Manava Karunya Yathra was exclusively for propagating Mrithasanjeevani, the Govt. of Kerala’s cadaver organ donation program. We could collect 3.5 lakh organ donation consent forms.
We have a team of trained coordinators in each district in Kerala, besides a team in our central office who are taking awareness campaigns. Our Chairman, Fr. Davis Chiramel, also conducts programs on a regular basis, both in India and abroad. Recent increase in the number of deceased organ donations taking place in Kerala is a direct result of these efforts.
- Suraksha Keralam:
Suraksha Keralam is a project meant for screening people across Kerala for early detection of kidney diseases and also other lifestyle diseases. We plan to have one mobile laboratory in each district to conduct the screening program. The program was launched on 18 August in Ernakulam district. We presently have 3 mobile labs, in Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kottayam districts.
We are planning to acquire 14 mobile labs. We have approached the Government of Kerala to give us 10 mobile labs. We are also approaching many social organizations and individuals to donate mobile laboratories and sponsor camps for screening. We are planning to screen 5 lakh people across Kerala during every year, which we hope will have a major positive effect in controlling kidney diseases and other lifestyle diseases like high BP and diabetes.
- Houbin Pharmacy project:
Patients who have transplanted kidneys have to take medicines worth Rs. 10000 to 15000 every month life long. It is a big financial burden to many patients. Though a number of organizations are giving help for dialysis, there is practically no organization helping post transplant patients. With this project, KFI intends to give free/subsidized medicines to post transplant patients on a regular basis.
- Community radio project:
KFI is launching a community radio station ‘Hello Radio’ in the near future for the benefit of the underprivileged population, with focus on awareness and disease prevention programs.
- Kidney taxi project:
KFI is launching a free transportation service for patients going for dialysis, thereby saving them both the cost of transport and the need of a bystander.