The Nigerain Association of Nephrology, NAN has urged the Nigerian Government and Non-governmental Organisations to intervene more in order to reduce the cost of treatment for the over 20 million people battling with chronic Kidney disease across the nation.
According to the President of the association, Dr. Adanze Asinobi, the cost of treatment for the disease is too expensive, especially for low income earners as such the urgent need for such interventions.
Asinobi stated this during the Association’s 35th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting, with the theme: Current Concepts in Acute Kidney Injury, AKI Prevention and Management being held in Kano state north Western Nigeria.
She said the interventions by governments, NGOs and other stakeholders so far are not enough to minimize cost of treatment for the disease as such there was the need for further action.
“kidney disease is a huge burden on Nigerians and even world-wide with intensive cost management which demands more efforts from both the government and relevant stakeholders such as the NGOs to tackle the treatment and increase.
“Due to expensive nature of treatment, we see people dying at their prime from kidney disease, which is very agonizing to us Nephrologists who attend to them on daily basis.
“About 10 percent of admission in our tertiary hospitals are due to chronic kidney disease which translate to 20million Nigerians considering our 200 million population.
“This is not inclusive of acute kidney disease cases and those in the rural areas, who have no access to standard hospitals where they can get proper diagnosis,” she explained.
She said the provision by the Nigerian government through the National Health Insurance Authority, NHIA, in recent years for free six sessions of dialysis for those with Kidney disease, was not enough as majority of Nigerians are not on the scheme.
The President stressed that chronic kidney disease was not included in the free sessions of the Health Insurance Scheme.
Sensitisation Campaigns
On what the Nephrologists are doing, Dr.Adanze said the association on its part has embarked on sensitisation campàigns to the populace on preventive measures and education on the disease, especially the intake of pain killers.
“We on our part have decided to educate the people on how to prevent themselves from this disease.
“People must desist from patronizing pain killers such as the Non-Sterodial and Anti-inflammatory drugs which Ibuprofen is one of them because they are capable of damaging the kidney.
“Pregnant women must also watch the drugs they use, especially anti-hypertensive drugs, so as to protect their unborn babies from possible future congenital kidney diseases,” said the NAN president
She said Nigerians like the Americans and other European countries should endeavour to demand for inclusion in health insurance schemes to ease cost of treatments, especially those suffering from Kidney diseases.
“In the 60s and 70s the Americans and Europeans fought for their inclusion in their health insurance schemes and they got. In Nigeria we can also get it.
“While we fight for health insurance to be made available for the people by the government, people must take adequate preventive measures to protect themselves”, said Dr.Adanze.
The four days conference which began on the 10th-14th January, has sub themes on: Use of continuous Renal Replacement Therapy in Developing Countries; Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Origin; Pregnancy-Related Acute Kidney Injury.
Confidence Okwuchi
