One Nation, One Dialysis Programme

[GS Paper 2 – Govt. Policies and Interventions]

Context – The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya announced on June 26, 2022, that the Central Government will soon launch the ‘One Nation, One Dialysis’ programme. 

It will be launched by the Government under the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme. Through this scheme, any patient in India can get a dialysis facility from anywhere in the country.

Key Developments

• Aligning with the concept of one nation and one service, the Central Government has been planning to launch yet another service titled ‘One Nation, One Dialysis’ under the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme under the National Health Mission.

• One Nation, One Dialysis scheme will facilitate the dialysis facility for the needy patients anywhere in the country, as per the Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya.

• The programme was launched by the Government of India keeping in view the fact that every year about 2.2 lakh new patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) get added to the country resulting in additional demand for 3.4 crore dialysis each year.

• The increasing number of patients with End-Stage Renal Diseases gets added every year which results in the demand of 3.4 crore dialysis every year. With approx 4,950 dialysis centers, largely in the private sector in India, the demand is less than half met with the existing infrastructure.

• The high cost of dialysis care leads to a financial catastrophe for practically all the families with such patients. It has been felt that both in the terms of provision of important life-saving procedures and for reducing the impoverishment on account of out-of-pocket expenditure for patients, a dialysis program is required.

About Dialysis

• Dialysis is a treatment that does some of the things done by healthy kidneys. It is needed when one develops an end-stage kidney failure.

• Dialysis maintains balance of body by:
  1. Removing waste, salt and extra water to prevent them from building up in the body.

  2. Keeping a safe level of certain chemicals in your blood, such as potassium, sodium and bicarbonate.

  3. Helping to control blood pressure.

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