Gashu’a: A crisis of renal failure

By way of introduction, Gashu’a is the headquarters of Bade Local Government, in northern part of Yobe State. Yobe State itself is located in the far north, in the NorthEast geo-political zone. The weather is largely hot and the environment generally arid. On the western side of this small town, lays a river that stretches into the declining Lake Chad. Farming and fishing define this town. Particularly rice farming and dry season farming; both keep people engaged all year through. But in the last ten years, something frightening has been plaguing and horrifying the people of this town. It can best be described as an ‘existential quandary.’ In the beginning - and that beginning was about 16 years ago, young people have been getting ill, rapidly losing weight and going to hospitals - at the end - only to be told that they had renal failure. Dialysis follows, for those who can afford it, then comes the usual end; sudden and painful death. As fatalities increase, everyone became more aware of the killer.

There is no statistics on the number of lives lost to renal failure, but based on frequent deaths, one can safely conclude that there is a health crisis ravaging families and communities in this town. Hardly will there be a family that doesn’t have a victim. In just the last six months I lost a close friend, an in-law, a cousin, an acquaintance and I know many families with the similar experiences of grief. During every condolence visit, one hears more stories of many other families who lost dear ones to renal failure. Although the stories always involve different people but they always have the same ending - death - punctuated by heartbreaking experiences through a healthcare system that had collapsed many years ago.

Now, for many people in Gashua, the situation is almost that of helplessness. Whenever a member of a family is afflicted, the family has to brace up, sell whatever that is sellable and struggle to rescue a life. The helplessness triggers questions like; is rampant renal failure caused by contamination of water? Is it a result of the harsh weather? Are foodstuffs reserved with deadly chemicals? Are fruits laced with dangerous chemicals meant to hasten ripening the cause? Is the situation a result of lack of adequate hydration in the face of the almost all year heat and din? Are other underlying diseases triggering rapid renal failure? What really is the problem? People ask many more questions, as it is the wont of those faced with a deadly affliction. Some are even suggesting that there is need for a thorough scientific research by experts, who can empirically find out, with precision, where the problem lays.

Renal failure is simply ‘a condition in which the kidneys lose the ability to remove waste and balance fluids.’ Largely, this should not be a death sentence. There is dialysis, and for those who can afford it a kidney transplant. It is possible to manage and live with renal failure, but it is impossible to live with it in a country where the whole public healthcare system has almost collapsed or cannot meet the demands of rising population coupled with poverty. There are many stories of how some people who were afflicted lost their loved ones because even a precise diagnosis appeared to be like a guesswork that took dangerously so long. For so many, they only realised they had renal failure after jumping from one hospital to another, from one misdiagnosis to another, and from one wrong treatment to another, until it was too late. Until their condition was beyond medical salvation.

Whenever a story comes about a friend or a relative battling renal failure, one has to be optimistic. The hope is sticked to the fact that the sick can survive with proper treatment. There is hope that routine painful and expensive dialysis can keep the person afflicted going on with life. Some years ago the nearest hospital for people in need of dialysis was University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital; the journey and the cost were staggering for many families. Yobe State University Teaching Hospital - one of the remarkable achievements of former Governor Alhaji Ibrahim Geidam - eased the stress of the tasking and now dangerous journey to Maiduguri for dialysis. It was also to the credit of the former governor that he made dialysis free for all indigenes of Yobe State. For many, this meant a whole life; it meant they no longer had to sale farm, home or a family shop to pay for dialysis for a loved one. It means they no longer had to see their loved one losing his/her life because they could not afford dialysis. Many more of such interventions are desperately needed to save lives; to save people from a situation that can best be described as ‘Kafkaesque.’

Isa Sanusi writes from Abuja.