When Sunday Trust visited the hospital, the first set of patients was undergoing dialysis on the machines.
Dr Nyomudim Essen, Consultant Physician and Dermatologist in Garki Hospital explained, “What is unique about this place is that we have four machines on ground. Before now, dialysing HIV patients was problematic. They had to go looking for places. We have one machine that is dedicated to HIV positive individuals.”
On the seeming upsurge in the number of kidney failure cases, Essen said, “It might have been rampant—the person dies and nobody ever knows that the person actually had kidney failure. People might label it witchcraft or one other thing.
“However, the top three things that cause kidney failure in this country are high blood failure, diabetes and some inflammation in the kidney. We do know also that lifestyles are changing. The latest survey shows that one out of every four black persons has high blood pressure.”
On cost, the dermatologist said management was charging N15,000 per session. A session takes four hours. The nephrologist manning the centre, Dr Olatise Olalekan told Sunday Trust that it had been difficult for hospitals to own dialysis centres because of the cost of the machine.
According to him, swollen legs, having hiccups and headache and general body weakness are signs of kidney problem.
