Tanzania lacks scientific and medical researches on kidney related diseases, resulting in corresponding absence of statistics on the magnitude of infections of kidney related diseases, The Guardian has learnt.
The country relies on information from neighbouring countries, especially Kenya, Head of the Renal Unit for Dialysis Department at the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) Dr Onesmo Kisanga said in an interview.
He told The Guardian that in Kenya out of one million people 75 suffer from kidney related diseases, saying taking that country’s scenario it is estimated that out of one million between 70 and 79 people are affected by kidney related diseases in Tanzania.
Dr Kisanga said in Dar es Salaam mid this week that the lack of information was due to lack of comprehensive empirical researches about the diseases, rendering insufficient delivery of services operations.
“Currently we have no proper information, intensive researches are needed to obtain statistics about the trend of infections, and right now we are relying on information from neighbouring countries,” he said.
An expert Dr Garvin Kweka said majority of patients attending clinic have been diagnosed with kidney diseases with over 65 percent of them diagnosed at the last stages.
He said treatment of kidney related diseases is very costly, at up to Sh4 million per month, that most patients fail to meet. “That is why a big number of patients die.”
Dr Kweka said kidney disease is due to several factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes, adding that the kidney might also fail if a person gets an accident and loses lots of blood or he suffers serious malaria.
“High blood pressure and diabetes kill the kidney during the fifth stage which is the final one, and in case the kidney fails to run there are two kinds of treatment… the patient is to undergo a dialysis or donation of another kidney from ,” he said.
Kidney contribution can be done with a ‘donation’ from a dead person but Tanzania has no experts of preserving them.
According to the latest (2011) World Health Organization (WHO) data kidney disease deaths in Tanzania reached 4,533 or 1.03 per cent of total deaths. The age adjusted death rate is 23.84 per 100,000 of population, ranking Tanzania 54 in the world.
Kidney disease prevalence in the country has been reported to be 14 per cent among adults in the hospital based general population, irrespective of the cause.
The main causes of death in patients with the problem are kidney failure and cardiovascular related complications, which are increasing in patients with chronic kidney problem.
Other major contributory factors for this ominous picture include severe anemia, late referral to hospital, limited renal replacement therapy, and limited capacity of health workers for kidney detection and prevention, as well as poor awareness of kidney disease in the community.
A 2012 WHO research shows that 100 patients with chronic kidney disease were consecutively sampled from a total of 1476 of patients with various forms of diseases, 61 percent were males whereby out of them 91 percent were in advanced chronic kidney disease stages four and five.
Kidney disease is a worldwide public health problem. The incidence and prevalence has increased in recent years in both developed and developing countries, including sub-Saharan Africa.
Over 30 million people in the United States are afflicted with chronic kidney disease.