No fewer than 668 kidney patients have benefitted from Borno government’s free dialysis programme from 2019 till date, an official has said.
The officer in charge of the Kidney Centre of Maiduguri Specialist Hospital, Dr. Mohammed Yaro, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri on Thursday.
Yaro said that since inception of the programme in December 2019 till April 2024, over 12,000 sessions of free dialysis have been conducted on patients.
He added that since the introduction of the programme by the Governor Babagana Zulum administration, the dialysis and other consumables are being provided to the patients free of charge.
“We just received fresh supply of consumables in large quantities for the programme; our challenge in the area of consumables is now addressed,” Yaro said.
According to him, some patients undergo dialysis twice a week, and the cost per session is
nothing less than N42,000, which can take a huge toll on their finances.
While lamenting the rise in kidney diseases, Yaro called for more public awareness about
the disease.
He said, “The call is imperative because some patients are still not comfortable with the
dialysis, while some engage in taking both modern and traditional medications, which can lead to more complications.”
On challenges facing the kidney centre, Yaro appealed to the state government to
employ more hands to facilitate services.
He said “our challenge here for now is the need for more staff, particularly nephrology
nurses.”
Some patients, Ba-modu Mustapha and Ibrahim Mari, who spoke to NAN, lauded the free services and thanked the state government for the initiative, which they said is people-oriented.
Mari said; “This is a people-oriented programme that deserves commendation. ”
Mustapha said, “We want to commend Governor Zulum and the medical staff of this hospital for the support and commitment in providing this service.”
Meanwhile, Zulum had, two years ago, approved a N50million research grant to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital on kidney diseases as another measure to tackle the growing menace. (NAN)
