A medical staff attending to a patient inside the dialysis centre
No fewer than 668 kidney patients benefitted from Borno Government’s free dialysis programme from 2019 till date, an official said.
The Unit in-Charge of the Kidney Centre of Maiduguri Specialist Hospital, Dr Mohammed Yaro, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri on Thursday.
Yaro said that since inception of the programme in December 2019 till April 2024, over 12,000 sessions of free dialysis were conducted on patients.
He added that since the introduction of the programme by the Gov. Babagana Zulum administration, the dialysis and other consumables are being provided to the patients free.
“We just received fresh supply of consumables in large quantities for the programme; our challenge in the area of consumables is now addressed,” Yaro said.
According to him, some patients undergo dialysis twice a week, and the cost per session is nothing less than N42,000, which can take a huge toll on their finances.
While lamenting the rise in kidney diseases, Yaro called for more public awareness about the disease.
He said “the call is imperative because some patients are still not comfortable with the dialysis, while some engage in taking both modern and traditional medications, which can lead to more complications.”
On challenges facing the kidney centre, Yaro appealed to the state government to employ more hands to facilitate services.
He said “our challenge here for now is the need for more staff, particularly Nephrology Nurses.”
Some patients, Ba-modu Mustapha and Ibrahim Mari, who spoke to NAN, lauded the free services and thanked the state government for the initiative, which they said is people-oriented.
Mari said “this is a people-oriented programme that deserves commendation. ”
Mustapha said “we want to commend Gov. Zulum and the medical staff of this hospital for the support and commitment in providing this service.”
Meanwhile, Zulum had, two years ago, approved a N50-million research grant to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital on kidney diseases as another measure to tackle the growing menace. (NAN)
