LAHORE – Every year almost 17,000 people fall victim to kidney failure across Pakistan, Shaikh Zayed Hospital Chairman and Dean Professor Dr Muhammad Saeed said on Thursday. He expressed these views during a seminar held at Shaikh Zayed Hospital to mark the World Kidney Day. The International Society of Nephrology has selected “protect your kidneys and save your heart” as the theme for this year. In his speech, Dr Saeed said that the main cause of this fatal disease was diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney stones and kidney inflammation. He said the public needed to know that at the early stage the tests costs only Rs 150, but at an advanced stage, the cost rises up to millions of rupees.
He stressed upon the fact that prevention is better than cure. “Many diseases can be prevented only if people adopt a healthy life style, maintain a healthy diet with daily exercise and good sleep,” he added. Dr Aizaz Mand, a kidney specialist, said that the World Kidney Day was observed across the world considering the increasing burden of kidney failure across the globe, especially in the Southeast Asia. The major cause of kidney failure was high blood pressure and diabetes and in Pakistan, 15 percent of the population was diabetic. As per an estimate, the number of deaths related to kidney diseases caused by diabetes alone will increase from 8 million at present to 36 million by 2030.
Every fifth person in Pakistan is a blood pressure patient. “Around 15 percent of Pakistanis have some sort of kidney disease and only 10 percent go for dialysis. Around 50 percent of kidney patients are because of either blood pressure or diabetes. The ratio is constantly on the rise and the situation is alarming,” he said. He added, “People need to mend their eating habits, as the traditional food contains copious amounts of oil and fats and the trend of walk, cycling and exercise is diminishing.”
Before the seminar, other activities were held such as an awareness walk, a free medical camp to provide medical advice and urine and blood tests to diagnose kidney complications. Free informative pamphlets were also distributed. Doctors, nurses and paramedical staff also participated in these different activities. Kidney specialists; Dr Usman Khan, Dr Waqar Ahmad, Dr Rizwan, Dr Mateen and Dr Abad also spoke on the topic. Heart specialist, Dr Amber Malik, diabetes specialist; Professor Dr Zafar Iqbal and Eye specialist Dr Atif also advised the audience and gave them information about the disease. Every year almost 3,000 new kidney patients visit Shaikh Zayed Hospital.
Owing to the lack of information, misuse of kidney transplant acts and high cost of treatment, the lives of 16,000 kidney patients are at stake. However, the Punjab government has provided free dialysis facility in most of the public sector hospital, but the absence of qualified urologists and nephrologists at these centers render these dialysis center almost useless for these patients.
VIOLATION OF TRANSPLANT ACT: The Punjab government officials told Pakistan Today that the health department paid Rs 4000 per session and almost Rs 40,000 per month for one patient from its own pocket. The Punjab government introduced an “anti kidney transplant act” in September 2007 that binds the donor that he/she could donate kidney only to their blood relations. But a large number of kidney transplants are being done for foreigners even in violation of the act.
Sources disclosed that in 2006 more than 2000 kidney transplant took place in Pakistan and 50 per cent of them involved foreigners in search of cheap treatment. At that time a kidney patient could easily purchase a kidney for Rs 20,000 to 35,000 from Southern Punjab.
Kind Edward Medical University Department of Urology Head Prof Dr Nawaz Chughtai said that the owing to a lack of technical staff at DHQ hospital, a large number of patients suffers. “More than 70 patients are being provided dialysis facility in department of urology at Mayo Hospital every day. One simple method to detect problem earlier is the measurement of albumin in the urine through dipstick that detects protein in urine,” he said. “Government should establish institute of urology and transplantation where the training of young doctors could be also be done beside transplants. The government should transfer the responsibility for checking the blood relation to law enforcements agencies so that a doctor could operate with free mind,” he said.
