BANGLADESH

Free screening camps, rallies, awareness meetings and discussions will be organised on Thursday as part of the World Kidney Day in Dhaka as elsewhere in the world.

President Zillur Rahman and prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in separate messages prior to the day, urged all concerned to raise mass awareness to prevent kidney diseases, as an estimated 20 million people suffer from various types of the ailment.

'Donate Kidney for Life' is the theme of the day.

Terming the theme 'appropriate and time-befitting' as 'it would encourage people to donate kidney to their close relatives', president Zillur Rahman urged the specialist physicians and the well-off to step forward to help out the poor kidney patients.

Hasina expressed her hope that all organisations concerned would play an important role in creating mass awareness about kidney transplant and the related diseases.

Bangladesh Renal Association, Kidney Foundation, Paediatric Nephrology Society of Bangladesh, Society of Organ Transplant Bangladesh, and Bangladesh Diabetic Society will jointly organise a rally and a discussion to mark the day.

To raise awareness, Bangladesh Renal Association will organise an open-air meeting at the capital's Rabindra Sorobor.

The Barakah Kidney Hospital and Research Institute Ltd at a press conference on Wednesday declared month-long free kidney screening camp and 40 to 50 percent discount on different surgical procedures of kidney.

The hospital will distribute awareness leaflets on Thursday.