Harvard professor to visit nephropathy hit Uddanam region in Andhra Pradesh

A team of doctors led by Dr Joseph Bonventre, Chief of Renal Division, Brigham Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA will be visiting Uddanam region of north coastal Andhra Pradesh on 29 July, where 34,000 people were said to be suffering from Kidney failure. The Harvard team will be accompanied by another expert team sponsored by Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party.

“The Uddanam health crisis has to be solved as it has already claimed a large number of lives. It needs urgent medical attention,” Dr Bonventre said in a statement released here. He said that they will be assisting Pawan Kalyan to set up a Kidney Research Centre in the affected region for the benefit of its people. Though “Uddanam Nephropathy” as it is known was first identified in 1990 the cause is yet to be scientifically established. The disease was found to be affecting farmers and agriculture labour that eke a living on cashew and coconut plantations. The phenomenon is spread all over 100 villages in Kaviti, Sompeta, Kanchili, Itchapuram, Palasa and Vajrapukotturu blocks of Srikakulam district.

As per government estimates, 5000 people died due to kidney failure in the past decade. Such is the impact of the disease, that a least one person in every family in the 100 villages is affected by renal failure. The phenomenon was extensively discussed in the 2013 International Congress of Nephrology held in Hong Kong and in several other international forums.

The Uddanam issue came to lime light after Telugu superstar and Jana Sena party chief Pawan Kalyan demanding action from ruling Telugu Desam Party to respond within 48 hours in January this year. Thanks to the actor turned politician, the state government announced free dialysis for the affected people and financial assistance. Pawan Kalyan spoke with experts in Harvard about the Uddanam crisis and sought their help.