BKF walkathon goes that extra mile for healthy kidneys

Syed Shoaib | NT

Bengaluru: The death of a close one can leave people devastated but it can also move them to do wonders and that is exactly what happend to Dr P Sriram, founder of Bangalore Kidney Foundation.

Hurt by the death of a close friend who succumbed to kidney disease during the days the entire state did not have even one dialysis machine, the doctor dedicated himsef to the cause of kidney care and the result is the BKF, 'one of the largest facilities' for kidney ailments in the country. To commemorate World Kidney Day, observed across the globe on the second Thursday of March every year, Bangalore Kidney Foundation held a walkathon here on Sunday.

“Not only does a weekend work better for the general public, availing police permission is also simpler if your event is on a day the traffic is less,” said Dr Sriram while talking to News Trial. The one blood purifying machine he started along with supportive brother Srinivas P in 1979 has grown to 85, catering to the needs of around 300 patients every year through about half-a-million procedures en route.

“Renal failure is a lifetime defect,” divulged Chandra Nataraja, a ‘professional’ volunteer, while quickly adding, “Unless one gets lucky and finds a donor to have the vital organ transplanted.” “With only cadavers as the best hope for an available kidney for transplant, dialysis is the top alternative.

An average patient needs 150 sessions in a year, which means that a person whose kidneys have stopped functioning has to sit with one of these machines for 4-5 hours every other day all of their life. So we decided to bring the machines closer to the users. To start with, we shifted from Padmanabhnagar to the centrally located Shankarapuram,” he added.

The BKF went on to set up centres in Tumakuru, Chamarajanagar, Magadi, Chikkanayanahalli and Baallehonnur, with ones in Hosakote, Raichur, Hassan and Hubballi in the pipeline. In an era where cancer and heart attacks have become the biggest causes of death, people remain ignorant of another disease that can be equally fatal – kidney disease.

With the aim of reaching this message to the masses, the BKF arranged two walks – 5 km and 2 km – starting and terminating at Hotel Conrad Bengaluru, off MG Road. Eminent sports personalities para athlete Malathi Holla, athlete Reet Abraham, swimmer Nisha Millet and mountaineer Vasumathi Srinivasan flagged off the event.

Among the many cheerful participants were patients with kidney diseases, besides volunteers who came from all walks of life to provide the professional touch it takes to provide a successful event. At the not-for-profit BKF, 85-90 per cent of patients are treated at subsidised rates or for free.

All female patients are treated free of cost, regardless of their economic background. It is run solely on funds and sponsorships of corporates, trusts and individual donations, besides the yeomen service of volunteers, to provide the most affordable care to patients with renal failure, according to Sushma Nayak of BKF. “Transplants too are arranged here for patients at subsidised rates or at zero cost,” she added.

MS Parthasarathy, a “prolific” walker representing Lions Club of Bangalore, Achintya, which partners with BKF to support one free dialysis a day to an underprivileged person, said he is only too happy to be part of an initiative to “increase awareness of how to keep ones kidneys healthy, and what to do in the unfortunate event of one’s kidneys collapsing”.