FOR World Kidney Day, marked on 10 March, a renal expert deliberates on the challenges that renal patients face in South Africa and provides possible corrective measures to improve the lives of thousands of renal patients in the country.
The theme for this year is ‘Kidney Disease and Children. Act Early to Prevent It!’.
“Each week, the equivalent of two planeloads of South African lives are lost because of lack of access to renal replacement treatment,” Prof Rafique Moosa, who heads the Department of Medicine at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), wrote in an editorial published in a recent issue of the South African Medical Journal (SAMJ).
The SAMJ article summarises the discussions between the National Department of Health and other stakeholders at a recent national summit on renal health in South Africa.
In the article, Moosa, a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Transplantation and his co-authors discuss the challenges faced by renal patients in South Africa. These include:
A shortage of trained health professionals – South Africa currently has 1.1 kidney specialists (nephrologists) for every million people.
Inequities in the provision of renal services between rich and poor, and people living in urban and rural areas.
A shortage of funds and the high price of dialysis – treatment costs approximately R200,000 per patient per year.
The small number of organ donors in South Africa – only 4.7 out of every million South Africans are organ donors.
