29th TANKER Annual Charity and Awards Nite 2022
TANKER Foundation celebrated its 29th Annual Charity and Awards Nite.
The Mr. Venkatesan & Mrs. Malathi Venkatesan TANKER Foundation Memorial Lecture was delivered by Prof. Joanne Bargman MD FRCPC, Nephrologist, University of Toronto. She spoke on “Grooming 90 Indian Nephrologists”. Prof Bargman shared her experiences and several heartwarming stories about the young Indian doctors in the International Clinical Fellowship Program in Nephrology in the University of Toronto, Canada.
Dr. Georgi Abraham, Founder Trustee, TANKER Foundation welcomed the gathering and said that the need for dialysis was on the increase and that more awareness had to be created about this terrible disease. The Awards nite was a function to recognize research in Nephrology and Service to the public.
Mrs. Latha Kumaraswami,Managing Trustee ,TANKER Foundation talked about TANKER’s small beginnings in 1993 and that with help from the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS), the Central Government, the Greater Chennai Corporation, family, friends, Rotary, Lions, Round Table, FreeMasons, Ladies Circle, Inner Wheel, Corporates and other valuable donors . She thanked the valuable staff of TANKER for being the Angels on Earth, especially for their commitment and dedication during the pandemic. TANKER runs 12 dialysis Units in Chennai, Madurai, Vellore, Coimbatore and Tiruppur and does 6061 dialysis a month serving 685 patients. So far TANKER has done 467,224 free and subsidized dialysis for 2153 patients and given financial support of Rs. 3.53 Lakhs to 3856 patients. TANKER has reached out to 1.89 lakh people with 1279 Awareness Programmes and also screened 35,810 individuals for early detection of kidney disease through 423 screening camps.
The Chief Guest Dr. (Smt). Tamilisai Soundararajan, Hon’ble Governor of Telangana and Hon’ble Lt. Governor of Puducherry said that she admired and appreciated the dedicated work that TANKER does and that everyone involved took ownership of TANKER. She also talked about the various Govt medical schemes that were there for the benefit of the needy. She also reiterated that Awareness and Screening were very important for early detection and for longer lifespan for patients with kidney disease. She presented the following awards.
The K. V. George Kottukulam Memorial TANKER & Kerala Kidney Research Foundation Young Investigator Award for outstanding research done in the field of Nephrology in India was awarded to Dr. Medi Naveen Kumar for his research into “Role of Magnetic Resonance Elastography and Biomarkers in Early Chronic Kidney Disease-A hospital based study”. The award carried a prize of Rs. 2,00,000/- a citation and a gold medallion.
The Renny Abraham TANKER Foundation Love for Service Award for a medical doctor who has gone beyond the call of duty in serving the underprivileged was awarded to Dr. Shobha Varthaman , who has selflessly served in humanitarian missions with Doctors Without Borders in several conflicts and disaster areas. The award carried a prize of Rs. 1,00,000/-, a citation and a gold medallion.
The La Renon TANKER Foundation For the Sake of Honour Award given to an individual who has done exemplary work in his or her field was awarded to Prof Joanne Bargman MD, FRCPC, Nephrologist, Toronto, staff Nephrologist at the University Health Network and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. The award carried a prize of Rs. 1,00,000/-, a citation and a gold medallion.
The K. Venkatanarayana TANKER Foundation Awareness Award given to an individual for creating awareness of any disease, mental, physical and social, was awarded to Sister Lucy Kurien from Pune who has been working tirelessly to spread awareness of the horrific violence and abuse against women through Maher- Mother’s Home which provides a safe haven for battered and destitute women. The award carried a prize of Rs. 1,00,000/-, a citation and a gold medallion.
The Ashok Sankaralingam TANKER Foundation Patient Endowment – One year dialysis support was given for 8 under privileged patients with kidney failure –Rs. 2,00,000/-.
The La Renon TANKER Foundation Lifetime Achievement Awards given to two individuals who have done exemplary work in the field of Nephrology were awarded to Dr. P. Soundararajan and Dr. Anant Kumar. The awards carried a prize of Rs. 1,00,000/-, a citation and a gold medallion each.Dr Anant Kumar donated his cheque back to TANKER Foundation.
Honouring of Enablers – Dr. Anisha Ashok and Dr. Jayanth Vijayakumar of Laser & Laproscopic Hospital for their commitment and selflessness in doing free fistulas for TANKER Patients and patient care.
TANKER Staff Awards were given for Service, Dedication, Commitment and Punctuality to several TANKER staff.
