16 Kidney patients battling for their lives in Sokoto
They are existing on life survival machines but hope, with fervent prayers and financial support, they would survive their life threatening disease. This is the story of two patients with malfunctioning kidneys who are undergoing dialysis as their only option for survival because they can afford kidney transplant.
Malam Musa Ibrahim of Kangiwa town in Kebbi State and Umar Garba of Rinjin Sambo, Sokoto State are currently on admission at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto. Ibrahim who is over 60 years old and a father of six, is being looked after by his eldest son who is 10 years old. According to him, the problem had been with him for long but he was taking the wrong medication until it was finally confirmed to be kidney failure.
“It reached this stage few months ago. In the past, I went to the university’s clinic for pain relievers,” Malam Ibrahim said on his sick bed.
When asked how he was coping with the N31, 000 charged for each dialysis, he said the university pays part of it and he pays the remaining from the donation he gets from relatives and sympathisers.
For Garba who is fondly called Ba’are Maizuma, coping with charges for dialysis and drugs isn’t an easy task. He was into honey business before his ailment and had to call his business associates in the SouthWest and neighbouring countries for assistance.
“Even the last payment came from my friends in Lagos because we are financially handicapped,” he said.
Garba recalled that the problem started with severe diarrhea and vomiting while he was on a business trip to Lagos. “I was admitted to a private hospital in Lagos and when my condition deteriorated I decided to come to my state, Kebbi, where it was discovered after series of tests at the Federal Medical Centre that all my kidneys had failed,” he said. “They however referred me to this hospital for further investigation and possible medication. I am now on dialysis and doctors told me the only solution to my problem is kidney transplant,” he said with tears rolling down his cheeks. He however declared that it is just a trial from God, because “I don’t smoke or drink alcohol.”
Garba who said his younger brother and wife were willing to donate a kidney to him, wondered if he could afford the seven million naira requested for the transplant because “as I am talking to you now, even the money for dialysis is a big problem to me.” He added that his wife and five children now depend on donations from family members and good Samaritans to survive.
“The sickness was discovered just one day after Governor Atiku Bagudu visited the Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi and donated N10, 000 to me. I would have requested for his financial assistance,” he said.
Both patients appealed to the government to make kidney treatment affordable for the common man who is more vulnerable. They lamented that while those in positions of authority have the means to seek medication even for headache abroad, the masses cannot afford medication even in Nigeria.
The Chief Consultant Physician and Transplant Nephrologist of UDUTH, Professor Hamid Liman attributed the high cost of dialysis to the fact that the machine and its accessories were imported.
“We wanted the manufacturers to come and open branches here, but they were reluctant, citing security concerns among others. If they can be manufactured locally, it would not be that costly,” he said.
The consultant noted that about 10 percent of Nigeria’s population live with some form of kidney diseases, but only two percent was in hospital for diagnosis and treatment. He added that only a maximum of 100, 000 out of two million Nigerians with the problem are on dialysis while the rest can not survive because they can not afford it.
Professor Liman explained that majority of the people with kidney problems are within the productive age of between 18 and 50 but it also affects elderly people. He encouraged Nigerians to know the status of their kidney, adding that those with confirmed kidney problems should always abide by doctors’ instructions. He advised people to avoid alcohol, smoking and unnecessary medication and encouraged them to exercise.
He said there was no centralized register for recording the number of cases, which made it difficult to know the exact number of deaths nationwide. “We have minor kidney problems that can be cured easily, like a kidney infection, what we mostly call urinary tract infection, which, if detected early and treated there is hope for complete cure.
“There are other major causes of kidney failure, categorised into acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease, “he said. “The failure is caused by loss of blood or severe vomiting and diarrhoea. Once detected early, the kidney could recover with the help of drugs and sometimes dialysis while chronic failure which is caused by high blood pressure, kidney stones, sickle cell, untreated kidney infections among others, can damage the kidney completely.”
On the delay in the take-off of kidney transplant in the hospital, he said the management of the hospital was working to acquire some of the remaining surgical materials required. According to him, the hospital has sent 50 of its staff to India and other countries for training on kidney transplant.