Fund a Dialysis Unit in Provincial Sri Lanka

Dr Sathi Seevanayagam is organizing this fundraiser to benefit Australian Medical Aid Foundation Ltd.

Australian Medical Aid Foundation (AMAF) is a charitable organisation registered in
Australia. It is registered with Australian Council for International
Development (ACFID) and all donations are tax deductible with the ATO.
It is an organisation committed to providing medical
aid to the provincial areas in Sri Lanka for the last 20 years.
AMAF has raised millions of dollars over the years and has funded numerous projects in Sri
Lanka, including an Intensive Care Unit, a Blood Bank, cataract theatres,
laparoscopic and endoscopy system, Orthopaedic sets etc education and training workshops by
international teams, sponsorships of local doctors for advanced specialist training abroad
and many more.
AMAF has now committed to setting up a Haemodialysis Unit in the town of Kiliinochi in the
Northern province of SL. Northern provinces (Northern & North-Central) of SL have very
high incidence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), with 15.4% of households reporting atleast
one member with symptomatic CKD. More than two-thirds of the reported CKD are linked
to diabetes and/or hypertension. Another causative factor is the use of contaminated
ground water for drinking and cooking in these predominantly rural provinces. The
consumption of groundwater contaminated by agrochemicals and of
agricultural commodities produced using groundwater has been linked to
the incidence of CKD in Sri Lanka doubling every four to five years. In SL,
currently over 150,000 people are affected by the disease and about 3% of
them lose their lives annually.

Currently, dialysis patients travel 2- 3 hours to have dialysis treatment for 4 hours at the
bigger cities and then return home the same day. They repeat the journey and treatment
every second day. In effect, 3-4 days of the patients’ week is totally given up for dialysis
resulting in disruption to the daily lives of the patients and their carers, and more
importantly it has significant economic impact on these families. By providing a locally
based dialysis service, AMAF plans to reduce the sufferings of the patients and their carers.
AMAF kindly requests the support of the public in Australia and abroad to make this project
a reality. For more information on AMAF’s past and present projects, please see links on
this page and visit our Facebook and website pages.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianMedicalAidFoundation/?ref=page_internal