Expand treatment facilities for kidney patients

Experts tell roundtable

24 May 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

Discussants at a roundtable on 'Kidney disease and transplant' organised by the Prothom Alo at its office in the city yesterday.Photo: STAR

Raising awareness about kidney disease and expanding treatment facilities, especially kidney transplant, are vital to save lives of many patients, medical experts said at a roundtable yesterday. There are about 1.8 crore kidney patients in the country and kidneys of 30,000 patients have already been damaged, they said, adding that the number of patients has doubled in the last ten years. The Prothom Alo organised the roundtable titled 'Kidney disease and transplant: Bangladesh perspective' at its office in the city. The experts suggested creating a fund immediately with donations from well-off people and organisations and introducing health insurance for all, as the treatment of kidney disease is too expensive. Mentioning that there is an acute shortage of kidney donors in the country, the experts said it is time to collect kidneys from deceased donors, which is now a common practice in many countries. Media has an important role to play in increasing awareness about the disease, they said. President of Kidney Foundation Prof Dr Harun-Ur-Rashid said around 60 percent of people do not know that they are suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure or kidney diseases. He said kidney disease remains silent for a long time and when the symptoms appear, 70-80 percent of the kidneys got damaged. Dr Harun said that although the kidney transplant is expensive, it gives a new lease of life to the patient. There are 43 dialysis centres and eight transplantation centres in the country where around 3,000 to 5,000 new patients can be treated, he said, adding that the remaining died without treatment. The number of patients who underwent kidney transplant is 800. Of them, 500 patients have had surgeries in the country, Dr Harun said. Around 90-92 percent of patients live one year after transplant while 78-80 percent live five years and 52-55 percent live ten years after the surgery. Every person after the age of 40 should have his or her kidneys checked at least once a year, he added. Dr AKM Anwarul Islam, a professor of urology department at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), said the media has a vital role to play in raising awareness about the disease, as it can be prevented if diagnosed at early stage. Dr Habibur Rahman, assistant professor of nephrology department at BSMMU, said that despite shortage of manpower and inadequate facilities, the success rate for kidney transplant at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital (BSMMUH) is almost equal to that in other countries. Mentioning that BSMMUH only takes Tk 1 lakh for kidney transplant, he said there is no need for kidney patients to go abroad for the treatment. "We have many patients in the queue but our capacity is quite low," he said and called for increasing treatment facilities immediately. Prof Rafiqul Alam, chairman of nephrology department of BSMMU, suggested framing a regulation for use of drugs to reduce drug-induced kidney diseases. Dr Firoz Khan, director of Kidney and Urology Institute, said they do not take any fee for kidney transplant and there are many dedicated kidney surgeons in the institute. Prof Jamanul Haque Bhuiyan, Dr Quazi Rafiqul Abedin, Popular Pharma Chief Executive Officer Dr Pinaki Bhattacharya, and Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman, Joint Editor Abdul Qaiyum and its health page editor Iqbal Kabir also spoke.