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Govt to Establish Dialysis Unit, Cardiac Centre

The Punch
Mudiaga Affe
14 Mar 2008

In order to stem the rising cases of chronic kidney diseases, the Lagos State Government on Wednesday announced its intention to establish a comprehensive dialysis unit within a cardiac centre this year. The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who disclosed this in Lagos on the occasion of the World Kidney Day Celebration, said the effort was aimed at boosting infrastructure development plan in the health sector.

He explained that the need to establish the dialysis centre, apart from being in line with the health policy thrust, was informed by the high mortality rate of kidney disease in the state, which shows that the disease constitutes between 6 and 8 percent of all medical cases seen in Lagos. Idris opined that to stem the trend, the integrated prevention programme, which include breast cancer screening, prostrate cancer screening, cervical cancer screening and blindness prevention programme, among others, will complement the prevention of kidney disease in the state.

He said, “So far, two rounds of the programmes have been carried out. During the first round, a total of 38, 865 persons were screened. Out of these, 36.7 per cent were found to be hypertensive, while 5.4 per cent were diagnosed to be diabetic. Another round was conducted with different results.” He further disclosed that of those screened, for each of the two rounds, 11.7 percent and 15.7 percent respectively were referred to designated hospitals for further investigation and treatment.

The commissioner noted that between January 2007 and now, government has sponsored about 32 people for kidney transplant and related problems, adding that between 2004 and 2007, a total of 4,082 cases were dialysed at a highly subsidised rate, with 14 percent of the cases given exemption by the state government. He explained that the level of awareness of the important role of kidney in health and diseases is low among the populace, stressing that 95 per cent of the general population know little or nothing about the disease.

He also said that the costs of kidney failure (End-Stage Renal Disease) are escalating, with over 1.5 million people in the world currently being kept alive through the use of haemoperitoneum dialysis or transplantation, adding that this number is expected to double within the next 10 years. Idris said the cumulative global cost for dialysis and transplantation over the next decade is predicted to exceed $1tn and that the economic burden could strain healthcare budgets in developed countries. For a lower income country like Nigeria, he said, it is impossible to meet such costs.

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