A growing list of local kidney transfer operations has given
hope to thousands of Kenyans who cannot afford similar services abroad.
Doctors at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH)
achieved yet another milestone in the treatment of chronic renal disorders by
successfully conducting their 26th kidney transplant.
MTRH Chief Executive Officer Wilson Aruasa said the operation, conducted by a team of
local doctors on a 67-year-old kidney patient, proved that patients in Kenya
did not have to go abroad to get new kidneys.
The kidney was donated by the patient's 28-year-old son.
Dr. Aruasa called on kidney patients in Kenya to consider
local treatment before deciding to go abroad, saying focus would now shift to
making more successful transplants.
"The travel flow to India, South Africa or the US for
kidney transplants should now reduce because it is official that successful
operations can be offered here," he said.
Even better, Aruasa announced, the National Hospital
Insurance Fund (NHIF) will cover the cost of consultation, dialysis and
transplant from this year.
LOCAL SURGEONS
Boniface Ganda, the team leader of the MTRH kidney transplant
panel and head of renal services at the hospital, said Kenyan doctors were
ready to step in and offer relief for thousands of people living with chronic
kidney disorders.
"We are up to the task after nine years of engagement
with visiting doctors and professors from the Netherlands and South Africa
under the Doctor to Doctor Foundation," he said.
The hospital however noted low public confidence in local
operations, saying only one kidney patient had turned up for the procedure.
"The public response has not been excellent. We hoped
to do at least four operations in this quarter but we had only one
patient," said Dr Ganda.
Another doctor in the team - Philip Cheptinga - praised the
transplant, saying it was a milestone for children with chronic kidney disorders.
"It is difficult to facilitate dialysis for children
and we have had to rely on imports from South Africa or the US. It is important
when children can get a transplant in time," he said.
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Piet ter Wee, the head of department of nephrology at VU University
in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, congratulated the Kenyan team.
The professor said the knowledge and skills shared and
exchanged between Kenya's medical specialists and visiting doctors was
beginning to bear fruit.
He added that MTRH needed to make transplants a routine.
"In the Netherlands currently, we do at least one
transplant a week. With increased facilitation and personnel, Kenya can soon be
there," he said.