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Anonymous donor drops off ₹10-crore cheque at PGIMER Chandigarh
Hospital officials said the donor, who had remained associated with PGIMER, had decided to donate his savings to the Renal Transplant Centre while remaining anonymous
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Moved by the hardship faced by underprivileged kidney failure patients, an anonymous donor has presented an unprecedented ₹10 crore donation to the Renal Transplant Centre of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).
Hospital officials said the donor, who had remained associated with PGIMER, had decided to donate his savings to the centre while remaining anonymous.
As per sources, the centre conducted 24 renal transplants in August and one of the patients was a relative of the donor. While no official statement has been shared by the institute, sources said the donation, that came in the form of a cheque, was meant for the Renal Transplant Centre, but the hospital was yet to decide how to utilise the funds.
The donation is the highest ever received by PGIMER, where the last highest donation was ₹50 lakh. Over 9,000 patients have been treated through the hospital’s Poor Patients Welfare Fund in the past three years.
Centre’s head Dr Ashish Sharma said the minimum cost of a renal transplant was ₹40,000, which could rise up to ₹2 lakh in case of complications. “The cost further increases to ₹6 lakh if the blood group is incompatible,” he added.
The financial strain on patients doesn’t end here, as life-long medication costing ₹1,200 to ₹15,000 per month follows.
The transplant itself doesn’t come easy in the first place. Currently, 2,600 kidney failure patients are in queue for a donor. Even those who have a donor have to wait at least a month or two for the transplant. Those awaiting transplant even take on odd jobs outside PGIMER to support their treatment, said a doctor.
