A consultant neurosurgeon and Chief Executive Officer of Wellington Neurology and Neurosurgery Hospital, Abuja, Dr Charles Ugwuanyi, has raised alarm over Nigeria’s escalating kidney disease burden, saying that about 9,000 new cases of end-stage kidney failure were reported monthly.
Also, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prof Fatiu Arogundade, said that an estimated 25.4 million adult Nigerians could be living with chronic kidney disease.
Speaking at a press briefing to mark his hospital’s 15th anniversary in Abuja on Monday, Ugwuanyi called for increased awareness, routine health screening and early diagnosis to curb the rising burden.
The neurosurgeon linked the rising cases of kidney failure to some major risk factors such as hypertension, excessive alcohol consumption, diabetes and indiscriminate medication use.
He urged Nigerians to monitor their blood pressure and blood sugar levels regularly.
The doctor, who expressed worry over the attitude of some young Nigerians, whom he said avoided routine medical examinations because they felt healthy, said that such individuals might actually e harbouring underlying conditions that could damage their kidneys.
“The solution is not in making noise on social media. It is to find out what the issues are and how you can help,” he said.
Meanwhile, Arogundade gave his estimate while delivering the 430th inaugural lecture of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, titled ‘The Burden, Barriers, Bottlenecks and Breakthroughs in the Management of Kidney Disease in Nigeria: A Journey from the Grassroots to the Frontiers’.
According to the Vice- Chancellor, Nigeria lacked a comprehensive national registry to establish the exact prevalence of chronic kidney disease, noting that a Nigerian study involving 14,250 participants found a pooled prevalence of 20.4 per cent.
Applying the figure to Nigeria’s adult population, he estimated that 25.4 million people could be living with overt or undetected chronic kidney disease.
Arogundade stated that the disease affected many Nigerians between the ages of 20 and 50, identifying hypertension and glomerulonephritis as leading causes.
Other risk factors include diabetes, HIV-associated nephropathy, obstructive kidney disease, environmental exposures and sickle cell disease.
He called for a coordinated national response focused on prevention, early detection and affordable treatment.
