As one of the few NGOs dedicated solely to the improvement of nephrology practice and welfare of kidney patients in the country, NKF launched the Children Dialysis Fund targeted to provide financial assistance to children on dialysis in November 2005.

With the Children Dialysis Fund, NKF hopes to provide a better quality of life for school going children under the age of 20. Currently, the children undergo dialysis at home, known as Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD), supervised by a paediatric government dialysis unit closest to them.

With a subsidy from NKF, the child can convert from being dialysed 4 times a day to being dialysed at night, under Automated Peritoneal Dialysis (APD). With APD, the exchanges are carried out at night when the child is asleep.

Through this Fund, NKF plans to enable more children to convert from CAPD to APD.
APD is the better choice of dialysis treatment for children as it is most convenient for school going children and working parents.

Thus, the core objectives of the Children Dialysis Fund are:

	To provide financial assistance to enable more children to have access to APD
	To provide a better mode of treatment that would allow children to attend school full time and reduce the impact of the dialysis treatment on the child and the family’s way of life
	To help children spend less time hospitalized undergoing treatment and more time at home with family and friends
	To attain the highest level of psychological and social rehabilitation of children with kidney failure and their whole family

Rajeswari Mathavanam

Rajeswari, 8 years, diagnosed with end stage renal failure, the first child to benefit    under the Children Dialysis Fund, receives financial assistance from NKF for her daily dialysis at home using APD. Rajeswari’s mother, Sevakumari Devanathan, 35, a widow, described how they found out Rajes was suffering from end stage renal failure at the age of 5. “Her eyes and body were swollen, she was admitted to the Kuantan General Hospital and when tests showed her kidneys were failing, she began dialysis immediately”, said Sevakumari. Today, Rajeswari has been given a new lease of life under the Children Dialysis Fund and plays happily with her siblings, while attending school on a regular basis. Rajeswari undergoes dialysis at night and in the daytime attends school. Thus far, the Children Dialysis Fund is providing financial assistance to 19 children currently on APD and we hope organisations will come forward to support this project generously for the betterment of these children.

Rajeswari, 8 years old and her mother, Sevakumari Devanathan Rajeswari  on  CAPD at  home.