The Aga Khan Hospital Kisumu held a health clinic to provide locals with free kidney screening and consultation to mark this year’s World Kidney Disease awareness day.
The free medical camp also played a central role in enhancing education among the Kisumu County residents on the need to take care of the kidney.
The hospital partnered with the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundation (IFKF) to realize the free medical camp.
According to Dr. Ben Lomatayo, consultant physician and nephrologist at the Aga Khan hospital, kidney infection is one of the diseases that if not treated at an early stage can lead to disability and death.
“Chronic kidney disease can last for a longer period of time and it is progressive and hence termed a silent killer disease. This type of infection can lead to kidney failure hence death due to its non-communicable nature,” he said.
People who are at a high risk of contracting kidney conditions are those who smoke, with high blood pressure, diabetes, those who are HIV positive, obese, with heart failure, and individuals whose members of the family have been affected before.
“Today’s theme is all about Kidney Health for All – Preparing for the unexpected and supporting the vulnerable. To raise awareness, we took a walk around Kisumu City and spread the word about how important it is to take care of our kidneys. We also offered a free kidney checkup and consultation with our doctors and our expert nephrologist,” Dr. Lomatayo.
“A simple test is done through screening where urine samples are taken to the lab for examination. When blood or proteins are found in the urine sample then one can be easily regarded as having a kidney problem. The screening is mainly done for those at high risk and it is not limited to age,” he said
Dr. Lomatayo said to prevent the infection of the disease, one is required to engage his or her body in exercise to make the blood flow easily and eat healthy food which is well balanced, and avoid smoking and overtakingabusing alcohol.
He said If one is having kidney failure, he or she is subjected to dialysis (artificial kidney) which must done twice or thrice a week, or a kidney transplant where one can be able to access another person’s kidney of which adaptation can take twenty-five years but under medication.
By Gabriel Odhiambo and Benedict Odhiambo
