Resource limitations and strategies for the treatment of uremia. A dialysis unit in the Himalayan foothills.

India has made great strides in health care since gaining independence in 1947. Much still needs to be done. Scarce health care resources are directed at priorities that include infant and maternal mortality, immunizations, malnutrition, communicable disease prevention, and access to protected water and sanitation. There is, therefore, no government reimbursement for treatment of patients with ESRD (estimated incidence of 100 per million population). Transplantation, the modality of choice in India, benefits only 2-3% of ESRD patients. Hemodialysis is primarily used short-term for pretransplant stabilization. A very small minority of patients is placed on maintenance hemodialysis or CAPD. The annual cost of renal replacement therapies is more than 10 times the per capita gross national product. Financial constraints pose ethical problems for the nephrologist related to adequate prescriptions and compliance. Preventing the progression of kidney disease and reducing the cost of disposables through indigenous manufacture are initiatives that need to be explored.