NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, AUG 30
Charity begins at home! Though a cliché but the saying hasn’t lost its meaning to many. Yes, it meant a lot to Govindbhai Bechardas Patel, a septuagenarian and a dialysis patient who funded the entire cost of a dialysis machine donated at a centre which he visits himself twice a week.
For the last three years, Govindbhai has been receiving dialysis at Unjha dialysis centre run by the state government under Gujarat Dialysis Programme (GDP). A former oil miller, Govindbhai was impressed with facilities and renal care offered at the centre which motivated him to fund the entire cost of the machine.
“Good Samaritans like Govindbhai and few others came together and whole-heartedly donated to acquire six dialysis machines for the centre,” Tejpal Patwa, President-Sadhbhavna Charitable Trust, Unjha said.
The centre till date was functional with four machines but it required additional machines to reduce the waiting period for the renal patients visiting from nearby areas.
Patwa added that individuals and community groups see the dialysis centre as a boon for the patients and regularly contribute to the upkeep and smooth functioning of the centre. The dialysis machines were handed over to the centre in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel who also holds the health portfolio on Friday evening. There are three other individual donors besides Govindbhai while the remaining two machines’ costs were funded by community groups.
“It is heartening to know that people have started owning up health services at the local level which will improve the quality of the services offered,” informed Dr Vineet Mishra, Director, IKDRC-ITS who was also present at the handing over ceremony of the six brand-new dialysis machines. He added that donors funded the cost of the machines which the institute sourced from medical equipment companies at a subsidised cost.
GDP is the largest chain of dialysis centres anywhere in the world and provides free of cost dialysis to BPL patients while serving other patients at a subsidised cost from its 47 dialysis centre in the state. Run by IKDRC, GDP caters to 3,000 patients and perform nearly 25,000 dialyses a month across the state.
