Research has shown that before many Nigerians know that they are pre-disposed to renal failure, they already have it.
Disclosing this to newsmen, National Co-ordinator, Kidney Support Association of Nigeria, Mr. Brent Akoman, said that this is due to awareness and information deficit on kidney disease in the country.
Akoman equally said there was no early intervention for kidney disease in the country, and where there is, it is inadequate.

His words: “We find out that before some people in Nigeria know that they are pre-disposed to renal failure, they already have renal failure. So, if there is a way, and there should be a way, to get the general public to understand that if I feel this way, if I have this type of lifestyle, I am predisposed to the disease. With this, people will make some adjustment, make some changes, or get early intervention. These are ways that can help. In other countries, there is enough information about kidney disease.

“In our country, there is no early intervention for kidney disease. If there is at all, it is inadequate. Early intervention, I mean here, is when you are still having symptoms, when you are attending a renal clinic or just going to the hospital, and there is a possibility that you might go into renal failure, there is no intervention to prevent that from happening.

What I see it that from the time you are diagnosed to having some kind of kidney disease or nephropathy generally to the time you end up in dialysis machine, you are going down and there is nothing to intervene, especially if the person is at the early stages. Every medical personnel tells you that early intervention gives you chances of cure. But in this society, what I have seen is that from the beginning of symptom, they manage you straight to when you lie on the bed and take dialysis.

When you start finding protein in your urine, it is an indication there is a problem. There is also degree, one, two or three. There is a very high level. A lady was found to have three counts of her protein in her urine, and she went abroad, she got treated and she came back. No renal failure, no dialysis and she is fine. Some people are found in the early stages to have one count of their protein in their urine, they end up in dialysis because there is no intervention.

“We are hoping, through this organisation, and with the help of the public as we get the message across, we will begin to have methods of intervention. That case actually reverses the process before the patient goes down to dialysis.

“One other thing we hope to do here is to reduce mortality rate among end-state renal disease sufferers. Generally, once a patient is diagnosed to have renal failure, they condemn them to death or they normally, usually die. What we are trying to do is to work through this organisation and its partners to reduce this rate of mortality among end-stage renal disease sufferers, which means follow them effectively through dialysis into a transplant.

“We also know that there’s no welfare system in this country to support those who are disabled by illness. In other societies, if you are disabled by your sickness, no matter the nature of your sickness and you are no longer able to work because of your disease or condition, you are taken care of. At least you have the minimum support from the system, so that you continue to maintain your lifestyle, you continue to live. In this society, we don’t have anything to help people who have renal failure.

“One of the goals of our Kidney Support Association is to make treatment, which, in this case, is dialysis accessible and affordable. When I was dialyzing my patient at Life Support, I knew a lady who lived in Onitsha. Her nearest dialysis centre was at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu. According to her, from that region, people have to rush to the place, say by 4 a.m, put their name on the list and then wait for the place to open. Sometimes people spend the night or you send someone ahead of you to go and put your name on the list, so that when the place opened in the morning, they start from the first name listed.

“For instance, you have six or nine patients listed, the place has one working machine. The highest capacity of the machine is to dialyse two patients on a day. So, you have four patients who are listed who have to wait for another day. Once there is a congestion in Enugu, like this, she comes all the way from Onitsha to Life Support Medical Centre, Ikeja. She boards a night bus.

“I want you to imagine the picture of renal patient on a bus from Onitsha to Lagos so that they can dialyse in the morning when they get to Lagos. Sometimes she has to spend days in Lagos, but the owner of Life Support understands her case, and when she had to stay over, a small room will be prepared for her, and she might have to do another dialysis before going back to Onitsha.
“So, that’s what we are looking at to make the treatment accessible. In the 15 or 10 million people living in Lagos. How many dialysis centres do we have?

And if we do have, how affordable is the treatment? We are looking forward to working through Kidney Support Association of Nigeria to bring this treatment closer to the people, making it more accessible and attempt to make the cost a bit more affordable.