The moratality rate for rural dialysis patients was twice compared to urban patients in India, NephroPlus, India’s largest dialysis provider, in its extensive clincial study conducted across 85 cities in 18 states in the country pertaining to mortality data on dialysis, said.
 

Based on the study conducted among 16,000 patients across the country, patients residing in rural areas have a 1-year mortality rate of 22 per cent compared to 11 per cent for their urban counterparts, NephroPlus revealed in its report on June 27. The 5-year mortality rate is 60 per cent for the rural population compared to 36 per cent for urban patients. This is thought to be predominantly due to the lack of awareness, education, accessibility and affordability among the rural population, the report said.

The study also showed that people who were wealthier and more educated had a lower mortality rate than those who were not as well-off or were not as well-educated. Patients with an income of greater than Rs 50,000 per month had a 5-year mortality rate of 33 per cent whereas those that earned less than Rs. 5,000 per month had a 5-year mortality rate of 66 per cent, it said. Pertaining to the geographical location, the survey also stated that, people who are going through dialysis, living in East India have 64 per cent chance of less survival within 5 years of their treatment as compared to North, South and West zone of India due to the lack of accessibility of proper treatment.

Highlighting the concern regarding the increase in mortality rate up to 60 per cent in Tier 3 cities, NephroPlus also said this alarming rate has compelled the brand to focus on their presence in places such as Pune, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. NephroPlus also disclosed that the quality of treatment and its affordability has a direct impact on the mortality rate and the majority of the population, who earn less than 5000 a month, have an increased mortality rate up to 66 per cent within 5 years of treatment under dialysis.

NephroPlus Co-Founder and Patient Services Director Mr. Kamal Shah, said “Kidney failure is one of the most common chronic epidemics spreading across the country due to lack of affordability and accessibility to quality dialysis care to the masses. The research clearly states, that the mortality rate of the dialysis patients are significantly high due to lack of awareness to detect the severity of the disease at the right time.

With an aim to make dialysis accessible and affordable to all, NephroPlus has marked their presence all across 140 centers currently in 85 cities. With PPP model, NephroPlus has facilitated people who are under BPL (Below Poverty Line) to avail the schemes, of free dialysis care for all. NephroPlus has successfully completed 2 million dialysis sessions after expanding their presence and servicing dialysis patients across the country. With a ray of hope pertaining to numbers shared by NephroPlus, 52 per cent of the kidney patients going through dialysis survive up to 20-21 years with the support of quality dialysis treatment and renal transplant.