Stakeholders call for urgent measures to reduce fatality rates from chronic kidney disease

Lagos, March 18, 2020  (NAN) Some stakeholders on Wednesday called for urgent measures to reduce fatality rates arising from chronic kidney disease and other kidney diseases and suggested ways to tackle the increasing cost of managing it.

The stakeholders, pulled together by the Renal Dialysis Centre in Lagos, said that most times, in our own environment, only less than five per cent of patients were able to sustain the disease for longer than three months.

The forum was part of the centre’s activities to mark the 2020 World Kidney Day celebrated annually on the second Thursday in March.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Chronic kidney disease, also called chronic kidney failure, refers to the gradual loss of kidney function including filtering of wastes and excess fluids from the blood.

Dialysis is a treatment that performs the function of the kidneys when they failed through filtering and purifying of the blood using a machine.

Dr John Okoh, the Medical Director/Chief Executive Officer Renal Dialysis Centre, Ikeja, said there was need to ensure local production of some of the reagents used for dialysis to make it affordable.

“We have realised that the menace of kidney diseases affects people greatly, and it is a challenge that needs to be tackled head on.

“There has to be increased funding for dialysis as well as transplants.

“Also, the government has to reduce tariffs and duties on some of these medical products.’’

Okoh also advised citizens on the need for regular medical checkups and importance of adopting healthy lifestyles.

Also, Fatiu Arogundade, a Professor of Medicine and Consultant Physician / Nephrologist at the  Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, said: “Dialysis costs are very expensive worldwide, the costs are insurmountable.

“No individual can cope with it. In our own environment, less than five per cent of our patients are able to sustain the disease for longer than three months, meaning that majority of them died.

“And those that do not die, most are rich enough to sustain it beyond that period. Based on this, what we need is prevention.

“However, one major thing that we need is to be able to reduce the costs.’’

Arogundade, also President, Nigerian Association of Nephrologist, said that consumables for dialysis should be produced locally.

“ Once we import the machines, we can then produce all the consumables that we need locally. So, you won’t need to be importing everything that you need, but the machine could be imported.

“I also know of countries that do not import machines. A country like Egypt, they bring all the components of the machine to Egypt, assemble it and produce them in Egypt.

“This also significantly brings down the cost, because you are not bringing in the finished product, and when we do that, it will bring the much needed employment too.

“For the consumables, majority of them are water-based, pharmaceutical compounds with water in one form or the other.

“So, the compounding can be done in Nigeria, if we go in partnership with some of the established companies to produce them.

“Then, we won’t have to be paying huge tariffs on all these and the cost can be significantly reduced,’’ he said.

Also, Ms Jide Ndili, the Country Director Nigeria, PharmaAccess Foundation, made a case for basic healthcare services through insurance.

“ By the time you have access to healthcare services, you can even go for your checkups, and we catch it earlier.

“ It’s cheaper you don’t have to go all the way to the chronic ailment,’’ Ndili said.

She also said there was need to improve the quality of healthcare services, infrastructure, equipment as well as people and processes.

Contributing, Ayo Grillo, Executive Director of PPC Integrated Systems (PPC), said that technology has a great role to play in the nation’s health sector.

According to him, there is need for up to date equipment to be in our health facilities.

“Government needs to strengthen enforcement in the borders to stall substandard goods from coming into the country,’’ Grillo said.

He also advised that public-private partnership (PPP) model could help address the challenges in the nation’s health sector.

In his remarks, Tope Adeniyi of AXA Mansard, advised that Nigerians should embrace health insurance while they are still healthy as a way out of bottlenecks when health challenges present itself.

“Let everybody enter into health insurance pool, whether privately or in a large group or in a group of employment or whatever, or top up insurance, while you are still feeling healthy.

“That way, by the time certain issues come up, you are able to access care without having to subject yourself to private insurance,’’ Adeniyi said. (NAN)

ANU/VIV/GOK
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Edited by Vivian Ihechu/Olagoke Olatoye