MORE than 10 per cent of the entire Kenyan population have kidney diseases with the majority being below 45 years according to a report prepared by Kenyatta National Hospital. Head of the kidney unit at KNH Dr John Ngige says kidney related cases have hit an all time high with more than 10,000 cases diagnosed every year, most them in young economically active people aged between 20 and 45. He was speaking in Kisumu when he visited Nyanza Provincial Hospital kidney unit during the donation of a dialysis machine to the hospital.

He said the country has more than 200 dialysis machines yet only 13 are in operation, a situation that makes the fight against kidney and other lifestyle diseases an uphill task.

"It takes three hours to prepare a patient for dialysis, with the few machines we have it means we can only treat two people per day and the waiting list is quite huge," Ngige said.

Even though transplant is the surest way to cure Kidney, Ngige said investment in the machines and personnel can help a great deal in reducing the number of deaths associated with kidney infections. "We have very few health experts and nurses who are trained on how to use the machines and treatment of kidney diseases," Ngige said. "Currently 10 per cent of Kenyans are suffering from kidney related diseases due to the nature of our lifestyle and majority are people below 45 years. That translates to about four million Kenyans," he said. Ngige decried the high cost of treating kidney diseases.

"Unfortunately, statistically only a few people are able to afford treatment for the disease; others who cannot end up dying," he said. Ngige said last year go 60 kidney transplants were carried out in Kenya.

He called on health stakeholders and partners to increase aid on the treatment of kidney diseases to avoid early deaths that are associated with high cost of treatment and ease family burden.

"Any help towards alleviating the pain and humiliation of such people would surely be an effort in the right direction. It would be a good thing for people and a moral booster to their caregivers who sometimes look on helplessly for their patients to die not because they don't know what to do but because they don't have tools for effective interventions," he said.

Head of the kidney unit at Nyanza Provincial Hospital Herman Ojwang said the hospital often has more than 20 patients with kidney complications. "Only two out of over 20 patients who report at this facility on daily basis get access to treatment due to lack of funds or the unavailability of facilities," Ojwang said. The upsurge in cases of kidney failure has been blamed on lack of awareness on the part of patients and general health practitioners.

There are about 13 dialysis centres in the country and most of them are located in urban areas. Those diagnosed with the condition are required to undergo between two and three dialysis in a week and a session costs between sh6000 to Sh 10,000.

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