Published by the government of Zimbabwe
14 March 2008
Harare — Cases of patients with kidney failure continue to rise with 1 000 new cases recorded every year, chairman of the Zimbabwe Kidney Foundation Renal Services, Dr Obadiah Moyo has said.
The increase has been attributed to more people suffering from hypertension and diabetes while the cost of haemodialysis is nearly $4 billion a week, In his message on World Kidney Day, Dr Moyo said figures of new patients might not be a reflection of the reality because some people do not know that they have a kidney failure. "As we commemorate this day, we call upon Government to continue improving service conditions for renal patients and continuos availability of the services," Dr Moyo who is a dialysis specialist said.
He said plans to install 36 dialysis machines, which are currently lying idle at some health institutions in the country, were in progress and President Mugabe who is the association's patron has been engaged for assistance. Dr Moyo said celebrations of the World Kidney Day have since been postponed to next month. Dr Martin Odwee, a dialysis specialist from Parirenyatwa Renal Unit said if the machines are working, the unit takes care of nearly 100 renal failure patients on haemodialysis everyday, a few of which might successfully undergo renal transplant over the years.
Renal transplant costs an average of US$40 000. "We all know that this is far beyond most of our patients. To reduce this burden, early detection and prevention remain the most cost-effective means," Dr Odwee said.
Currently, patients are forced to seek haemodialysis services from private institutions because of the shortage of dialysis machines countrywide and they are required to pay $2 billion a session.
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