Kidney disease on the rise in rural Anantapur

Kidney disease on the rise in rural Anantapur

Thirty-seven-year-old Mallappagari Prakash, a farmer from Molakalapenta village in the district, was referred to the Guntakal Government Hospital by a local doctor after complaining of weakness, swollen legs and nose bleeds. From there, he was referred to a private hospital in Anantapur for better treatment.

Diagnosed with a kidney ailment, Prakash now needs dialysis at least twice or thrice a week, and despite getting medical treatment under Arogya Sri, each hospital visit costs him ₹2,000. His family sold their cattle away and put up the only piece of land they owned for sale to meet the expenses.

Mr. Prakash, the sole breadwinner of the family, has been tied to the bed for the most part of the day. His younger brother M. Nagarjuna, 29, who died of a similar kidney ailment six months ago, is survived by his wife Mahalakshmi and two children.

When The Hindu brought this issue to the notice of District Collector Nagalakshmi Selvarajan, promised to send a team of medical officers to conduct a survey and get to the root of the problem.

Another villager Parasuramudu had died two years ago after suffering from similar problems, but no authority had screened the village for kidney disease, the villagers said. Meanwhile, a laboratory test by the Rural Water Supply (RWS) on the sources of water ruled out the possibility of drinking water causing kidney ailments among the people there. While a private RO drinking water plant supplies water to the villagers, the overhead water tank built by the RWS two years ago has not been put to use yet.

The situation of 40-year-old Vaduguru Yellappa and 39-year-old Dandu Balakrishna is also the same. They spent ₹4 lakh on medical treatment for their kidney ailment, and went all the way to Kurnool and Ballari for treatment, but did not see any hope. They spend close to ₹7,000 a month on medicines, and ₹2,000 every time they go for dialysis.

Nephrologist V. Badrinath, who has been treating Mr. Prakash, told The Hindu that there were two to three pockets in the district from where they get to many patients with kidney ailments. He said that the State government should conduct a health survey in those villages.