Ahmedabad: Two dialysis centres are opened in the Kutch district while one each in Vadodara and Surat districts on Monday by Ahmedabad based Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC) spreading its reach under its flagship Gujarat Dialysis Programme (GDP).

The GDP centres have been opened at Gandhidham and Mandvi towns within the premises of sub-district Hospitals with five ultra-modern dialysis machines each at both the centres offering relief to scores of patients in the far-flung region of the state.

“It’s a huge relief for poor patients who will get quality dialysis sessions absolutely free throughout the year under the supervision of trained technical staff,” Dr Vineet Mishra, Director, IKDRC-ITS said in a statement adding that more number of machines will be installed with increase in number of dialysis patients. The second GDP centre with 15 machines at Gotri in Vadodara district, after one already functional at SSG Hospital, would provide dialysis services to nearby villages and urban areas in the vicinity. With opening of new dialysis centre in Mandvi town, Surat also got its second GDP centre apart from one functional in Surat City.

Enabled with plug and play LED screens with bluetooth connectivity on every bed give patients to pick entertainment of their choice during four-hour long dialysis session. “Light music and movies helps patients maintain their blood pressure levels during dialysis session making it a less stressful procedure,” Dr Mishra added.

Funded by government of Gujarat, GDP is the largest public-sector chain of dialysis centres in the world with 60 centres and 600 dialysis machines. GDP centres provide free of cost dialysis to patients irrespective of their socio-economic background in the state and clocked nearly 15 lakh dialysis sessions so far since its inception. GDP caters to over 3000 patients and perform 25,000 dialysis a month across state, under IKDRC’s qualified technicians and management. Under the scheme, poor patients with BPL card are also reimbursed with to and fro travel expenses when they visit GDP centres to attend their dialysis sessions.

The hemodialysis machines at Gandhidham and Mandvi have been facilitated by Fairfax India Charitable Foundation under its countrywide initiative to support Pradhanmantri National Dialysis Programme (PMNDP).