GOVERNMENT has been urged to establish haemodialysis facilities at all health institutions in the country to prevent unnecessary deaths of kidney patients.
The call was made by Senator Tapfumanei Wunganayi Muzoda last week during a Senate session debate on chronic diseases.
Haemodialysis is one way to treat advanced kidney failure and can help you live an active life despite failing kidneys.
With kidney treatment services at government health centres almost non-existent, private clinics and hospitals are offering the services at a cost beyond the reach of many.
Muzoda said that was the reason why government had a duty to ensure that the country’s riches are used to buy kidney treatment machines.
“It is so disturbing that relatives and friends are dying because of this problem, while as government we just watch and do nothing to assist those alive to continue living,” Muzoda said.
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“Our country is endowed with a lot of wealth, how can we fail to buy machines that assist our citizenry?
“With so many minerals that we have, it is so painful to watch people die yet we are so endowed with wealth.”
Despite improvement in the availability of treatment services for kidney patients on dialysis, most of the dialysis units are in Harare, leaving patients outside the capital stranded.
Dialysis involves the removal of waste and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys are not working properly.
It often involves diverting blood to a machine to be cleaned. "The whole country only has two machines at Mpilo and Parirenyatwa hospitals. So that affects people because they cannot be attended to in time," she said.
“Sometimes they travel long distances. What I would like to encourage the government is to procure dialysis machines so that people are attended to before the ailments worsen."
Muzoda said the kidney ailment was a silent killer.
“I wish the government could be able to treat people suffering from kidney failure, diabetes as well as blood pressure and provide medication as well as machines in various areas in the country,” Muzoda said.
“My request to the country is that if only we could have diagnostic machines for chronic diseases in each and every district so that the diseases may be attended to at district level, so that there are no complications if there are referrals.
"I would like to urge government to prioritise machines that are used to diagnose diseases such as cancer, kidney failure, diabetes and blood pressure so that our people may live longer and we do not continue losing people because of the diseases.”
The Health and Child Care ministry says Zimbabwe records 1 000 cases of kidney failure every year with only 700 accessing dialysis while the rest cannot afford the life-saving services.