Ys Men International opens 4 branches in UAE
Ys Men International, a leading global humanitarian and charity organisation, will set up four new branches in the UAE to enhance its regional network and is starting a major campaign among non-resident Indians to help poor kidney patients who do not have money or resources for regular dialysis.
Saju Chacko, Mid-West India Regional Director of the India Chapter of Ys Men International, said the free kidney dialysis project, Jeeva Dhara (Life Line), is part of the social responsibility project of the charity organisaion for the year 20112-13 and members of the UAE Chapter and other 40,000 will contribute voluntarily to finance free kidney dialysis programmes. The organization plans to finance about 10,000 free kidney dialysis to poor kidney patients.
“Ys Men International is the third largest service club in the world in terms of total membership. It is part of the global youth organization, YMCA, which is present all over the world as the largest youth Non Government Organisation in the world. Every year the organization has specific projects to cure and support patients suffering from chronic diseases like cancer, AIDS, diabetics or heart problems and this year the South Indian chapter has chosen to focus on kidney problems and free dialysis.”
He said the four new chapters in the UAE will help the organization reach out to the Non Resident Indian community in supporting the humanitarian projects. “Between 1.5 to 5 per cent of the population suffers from diabetics, which is a tropical disease. Expensive treatment, especially growing cost of dialysis in private hospitals is causing bankruptcy for some affected families and plan to run an awareness campaign for them,” he added.
He said patients have only two options, either to go for a dialysis or costly kidney transplantation. “Many poor patients cannot afford both and we plan to provide free dialysis.” He added that the organization has about 9,000 members in India, who volunteer to finance the projects, but more support is needed to undertake humanitarian projects by the Geneva based organization. “Now we will have seven Ys Men Clubs in the UAE which will be linked to our network in India. Each year we focus our charity work on major diseases like cancer, aids, child healthcare etc,” he added.
The group has also roped in leading South Indian superstar Bharath JayaRam, as the brand ambassador for the Jeeva Dhara project and the star has volunteered to participate in creating more awareness about diabetics and fund raising programmes for the campaign. He added that Ys Men International, has the consultative status of the United Nations Organisation (UNO) and has been in service for nine decades helping victims of natural calamities, Aids Awareness Programmes, rehabilitation of AIDS patients, children’s education, care for the aged, and other humanitarian projects.
“Chronic kidney patients need two to three dialysis per week and even a rich person will become pauper, if he or she does the dialysis in private hospitals, which charge about Indian rupees 4,000 per dialysis. We will be adding six new dialysis machines in private hospitals to help the treatment of poor patients,” added Dr Rakesh Chandran, the project coordinator.
According to Vinod Kumar, Secretary, Ys Men Dubai Central region, the seven network of Ys Men International in the UAE will channelize support for the project from NRIs.
Ram Buxani, philanthropist and leading Indian businessman in UAE, said: “The opening of a leading global NGO like Ys Men International is important because about 60 per cent of Indian population who live below the poverty line needs support. NGOs are the non-elected members and do a lot of social service. Such a humanitarian project to finance 10,000 free dialysis to poor patients need the support of Indian community.”