Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 28 Keralam Health Minister K Muraleedharan on Wednesday said that it was not practical to set up dialysis units in all community health centres in the state as they need to be operational throughout the day and also require a physician to be always on standby.
Muraleedharan was replying to a calling attention motion moved in the Assembly by Congress MLA M Vincent claiming that establishing dialysis units in all Community Health Centres in the state was a necessity in view of the rising numbers of chronic kidney patients.
Vincent also said that in 2020, the number of kidney patients in Keralam was 43,000, which has now (2026) increased to over two lakh. An adequate number of dialysis units are not available in government hospitals to cater to such a large number, he said.
In his response, the minister said that currently, dialysis centres are there in the medical colleges at Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Manjeri, Kozhikode, Kannur and Wayanad, as well as 112 hospitals under the Health Department.
Although these units are predominantly in government taluk, district and general hospitals, some also operate in community health centres based on the availability of basic infrastructure and human resources, he said.
“Since dialysis units must be available throughout the day, they can only be set up in hospitals that operate 24 hours and have adequate human resources, including a physician, on standby. Therefore, it is not practical to have dialysis centres in all community health centres in the current situation,” he said.
He said that dialysis units will be set up wherever the basic infrastructure and human resources are available.
(PTI News)
