World Kidney Day: LUTH Focusing On Access To Drugs

As the world marks this year’s World Kidney Day, the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), says it is focusing more on equitable access to drugs for all people with Kidney disease.

Its Consultant Nephrologist, Dr. Babawale Bello disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday.

Bello said that this year’s celebration was the third in the series of the theme: ”Kidney Health For All”.

He said that the World Kidney Day was organised by group called International Society of Kidney Federation who came together to celebrate the Kidney Day.

“The first episode was in 2006, and its held annually since that time. So we are now in the eighteen year of celebrating the World Kidney Day.

“All over the World, all those involved in kidney care, will be participating in the celebration of World Kidney Day.

“The events to mark the celebration are; Lectures, Public screening, Awareness Campaign, and Lagos University Teaching Hospital will be participating in such celebration.

“The hospital community is aware of this celebration with the Awareness Walk that took place early in the morning.

“A team from the Hospital was at Eko Boys High School to carry out screening of people, children to detect any abnormality for further evaluation. Such events are going on all over the country,” he said.

Bello, also the Deputy Chairman Medical Advisory Committee, LUTH, said that the Nigerian Association of Nephrology is the umbrella body for all persons involved in the care for people with kidney disease .

They included nephrologist, nurses, dialysis engineers, who organised a national event including public health awareness screening going on across the country.

He said that the purpose of World Kidney Day was to raise awareness about burden of kidney disease which had been a big source of concern across the world.

He said that it was estimated that about one in every ten persons would have some evidence of kidney disease if we checked.

Bello said that it was particularly more common in certain population of people of Sub-Saharan African descent, who tended to be a lot more affected by kidney disease than the rest of the World.

“In the same vein, kidney disease tends to cause no symptoms early, such that if you don’t go for screening, then you may not know until the disease is very advanced.

“And that’s our experience in this part of the world where patients come very late in the course of the illness where we can’t do much other than to prepare them for transplantation at dialysis.

“The event at World Kidney Day allows us to screen and communicate to our people to go for Screening Health Checks.

“The message is simply to be aware that the Kidneys are very important organs and have roles to play in excretion of wastes, control of blood sugar, making of blood and turnover of bone.

“The disease of the kidney are quite common and up to about one in every ten adult have some evidence of kidney disease if they check.

“That kidney disease early in its course, where we can intervene, to really make a difference in the course of the disease doesn’t cause symptoms, so it is possible to miss it entirely.

“To avoid a situation where you have kidney disease and you don’t know, go for screening and health checks every year,” he said.(NAN