Mangaluru: The country is on a 21-day lockdown in an attempt to control the spread of COVID-19, which has resulted in the death of over 42,000 people and infected more than 8,00,000 people worldwide so far. As this virus continues to spread havoc in almost all countries of the world, governments had to resort to tough measures like lockdowns. The brunt of this lockdown has been felt the most by the marginalized sections of society and those suffering from major illnesses.
As a result of the closure of the Karnataka – Kerala border, the patients who were coming from Kasargod to hospitals in Mangaluru have been hit very badly. Even patients coming in ambulances have been turned away. This has resulted in tremendous hardships to many patients.
Due to the free medical facilities and affordable treatment under various schemes provided at the Yenepoya Medical College Hospital, a large number of patients from across the border visit the Hospital daily. Among these, more than 100 patients come for just kidney-related treatments. The sudden closing of the borders came as a shocker to these people, mostly with BPL cards, who used to come to the hospital for dialysis. In order to alleviate their suffering in these trying times, it has been decided to shift five of the dialysis machines to KIMS Sunrise Hospital in Kasargod, where the patients can be treated.
This was made possible with the initiative taken by MLA N. A. Nellikunnu. At this hour of need, five of the staff, hailing from Kasargod, who completed their B Sc in Dialysis Technology from the Yenepoya Medical College, volunteered their support at the hospital in Kasargod. At a time when people are locking themselves up inside the safety of their homes, Shifa, Akhil, Mufeeda, Gopika and Afra have shown that they are the real heroes by coming forward to help the patients in whatever way they can.
The whole exercise for the Yenepoya Hospital was coordinated by Mohammad Sabith, Asst. Hospital Operations Officer with the support of the Dialysis Team and BioMedical Department.
