Early onset of kidney disease call for national renal care policy implementation

PRESIDENT of the Nigerian Association of Nephrologists and the Transplant Association of Nigeria, Professor Olugbenga Awobusuyi, said that there is an early onset of kidney disease in Nigeria, so the National Renal Care Policy implementation is long overdue.

Awobusuyi spoke at the sideline of a valedictory lecture entitled “An Odyssey with the Kidney, the Purifying Organ: A Story of Doggedness, Grace and Triumph” by Professor Adanze Asinobi at the University of Ibadan.

He stated that the National Renal Care Policy is a roadmap that could be used to ensure that Nigeria has a comprehensive policy and organizational structure for renal care in the country.

According to him, “The sad thing about kidney disease in Nigeria is that it affects the relatively younger age group compared with what we see in the Caucasians. You have people in their 30s and 40s with end-stage kidney disease. However, in Caucasians, the majority of patients were over 60 years old.

“So, what we have is a disease that affects the people who are in their prime age or the workforce in the society, and it is not in a proportion that one could easily neglect.

“Kidney disease affects about 12 percent of Nigerian adult population. And so it’s of public concern. It’s a devastating disease when we allow it to degenerate to the severe stage. This can lead to catastrophic expenditure. People selling off everything they’ve ever had just to treat kidney disease.”

Prof. Awobusuyi stated that both at the national and state levels, there are comprehensive documents on organ transplantation and kidney disease, which must be implemented.

“So, at the end of the day, we can have an operational system in the health sector that we could rely on and that is guided by the relevant laws and policies of the land,” he declared.

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