Bearing the burden of kidney failure amid failing systems

BY MICHAEL ORIEDO

About 15 men and women sit patiently on a bench in the Kidney Ward at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi.

Some talk animatedly; others sit nervously, waiting for the nurse to announce it is their turn to see the doctor.

A female nurse emerges soon after and calls out a patient’s name. A young man follows her, grinning from ear to ear.

The young man is elated about the prospect of seeing the doctor after hours of waiting. It is his turn to undergo dialysis, which takes about four hours.

Inside the ward, tens of patients of all ages lie on beds, waiting.

According to records from the referral hospital, the number of patients with kidney-related problems is rising each day.

The hospital admits an average of five new patients with kidney-related conditions every week.

However, the majority cannot raise money for kidney transplant or dialysis, which patients have to undergo twice a week.

FILTERING WASTE

Dialysis involves filtering accumulated waste products from metabolism in blood of persons whose kidneys do not function properly.

The hospital charges Sh4,500 per session of dialysis and about Sh600,000 for kidney transplant.

While doctors recommend transplant for anyone with kidney failure, many patients fail to raise the figure. Thus, they are compelled to rely on dialysis to stay alive.

However, this is pretty expensive. Many of them thus default on dialysis fees, as the disease turns out to be a burden.

Twenty five year-old Elizabeth Anyango is one such patient. Anyango has been admitted at Kenyatta for the past four months suffering from renal failure.

"I am feeling a little better," Anyango says, putting a brave face as the dialysis machine besides her labours on.

On this day, she is lucky she is undergoing dialysis. Her father, Stephen Owalo purchased necessary drugs for her to undergo the process.

She had spent over a week without dialysis as her father struggled to raise the requisite funds.

SWOLLEN LEGS

"The process often costs me about Sh5,500. I had to buy various dialysis equipment and drugs, some of them out of the hospital, where the cost is higher," says Owalo.

Anyango recounts her woes began about two years ago while working at a public university in Nairobi.

"My legs started swelling, my face became puffy and my eyes became pale. I was always fatigued. I sought medical attention hoping that I would get better," she says.

After weeks of treatment at various hospitals without success, Anyango visited KNH where medical tests revealed she had an inflammation of the kidney.

"I was admitted at the hospital where I stayed for several months as I underwent treatment," she explains.

She was later discharged but she did not regain her health. This saw her frequent the referral hospital and other health facilities where she was admitted over ten times.

Last October, while admitted at KNH, doctors discovered that her kidneys had failed completely.

They then advised her to start dialysis soon after. But after some time, the doctors recommended that she undergo a kidney transplant to correct the problem.

"I have been paying for her dialysis since she fell ill but I have exhausted my financial resources. She now stays for several days without dialysis because I cannot effectively fund the process," says Owalo.

But as he struggles to pay for his daughter’s dialysis, a bigger dilemma awaits him since Owalo has to raise money to facilitate her kidney transplant.

DISTANT DREAM

Many kidney patients are in a similar predicament: dialysis is pretty expensive, although it is only offers temporary relief, while transplant is a distant dream for many.

"We have to find money for transplant first before we look for a kidney donor," says Owalo. "Some family members have volunteered to donate their kidneys but the process cannot go on until when I raise the required fees. Her hospital bills also keep rising," he adds.

And like many families with patients suffering from kidney ailments and related diseases, Owalo says he has spent over Sh800,000 on Anyango’s treatment.

"I do not know when this will end but it is very expensive for us. Our lives as a family have come to a standstill. We always visit her at the hospital to encourage her. But we cannot raise the money needed for her transplant," he says.

However, despite the rising number of kidney patients in the country, KNH has only ten dialysis machines, which cannot effectively serve the growing number of patients.

The hospital advises patients to visit other medical facilities, for instance private hospitals that offer dialysis services to avoid congestion.

Since 2009, one kidney transplant is carried out at the hospital’s renal unit every month.