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By
Afedzi Abdullah / Isaac Asirifi, RNG
Cape Coast, March 15
GNA – A kidney care policy was developed by the Ghana Kidney Association.
(GKA) to help address the causes, prevention, treatment and costs of chronic disease.
kidney disease in the country.
Politics, which is
not yet submitted to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), would also provide a
Framework for the Development of Services to Alleviate the Suffering and Deaths Due
kidney failure in Ghana.
Dr. Dwomoa Adu, a
Consultant nephrologist at the University of Ghana (UG) who reported this, said
the initiative was to reduce the high number of chronic kidney cases being
registered in the country every year.
He was talking to a
public conference organized by the GKA in collaboration with the University of
Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences (UCCSMS) as part of activities aimed at
commemorate this year's World Kidney Day in Cape Coast on Thursday.
The conference was on
theme "kidney health for all and everywhere".
World Kidney Day
is celebrated to raise awareness about kidney disease, encourage prevention
behaviors and focus on systematic screening of all diabetic patients
and hypertension for chronic kidney disease.
It was also to educate
health professionals on their role in detecting and reducing the risk of
kidney disease and also to emphasize the role of local and national health
authorities in the fight against kidney disease.
It was also for
Encourage transplantation as the best outcome for kidney failure and organ donation
as a rescue initiative.
Dr. Adu said more than
7,000 Ghanaians developed end-stage renal disease each year with 95% of
dying without treatment.
He said according to
renal registry statistics established by GKA in 2017, only 23.6
Percentage of Ghanaians diagnosed with end-stage renal failure
received treatment lamenting that only five regions had hemodialysis
facilities.
Dr. Adu said six
one hundred and eighty-six (686) people were taking renal replacement therapy
December 2017, hence the need to increase treatment facilities as a whole
the country.
He said the
progressive decrease in kidney function leads to chronic kidney
diseases that, as they deteriorate, require dialysis or kidney
transplantation
He said: "Currently, our available option is
kidney transplants, which are the best treatment for end-stage renal failure,
but it is not available in Ghana.
He noted that treatment costs
Kidney disease was a concern and often forced some patients to resign.
fate and therefore urged the public especially those with diabetes and
hypertension to perform regular medical examinations.
He said a kidney
patient needed about 1,000 GH ¢ per week for three sessions at the hospital for
dialysis and treatment.
Dr. Victoria Adabayeri
of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) called for a legal framework for
guide the transplantation of kidney, heart and other vital organs into the
country.
She decried the
absence of kidney transplant surgeons in Ghana and appealed to the government
urgently to train at least two surgeons per year
position the country for the creation of a foundation for the kidney.
Mr. Thomas Vincent
Cann, a journalist diagnosed with chronic kidney disease
pbadionately called the government to consider subsidizing the cost of
kidney treatment in the country.
GNA
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