National Institute OF Health Gives $5m To K-Bu

BACK PAGE: Daily Graphic, May 11, 2012. Story: Albert K. Salia The National Institute of Health (NIH) of the United States of America has given a $5 million grant to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to co-ordinate a research into the cause of the increasing kidney-related infections in five African countries because of the alarming rate at which people in their productive ages of 20 and 50 years are developing kidney problems. The study will help establish whether the problem is genetical or there are other causes. Besides Ghana, the other countries included in the study are Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa. A Nephrologist Consultant, Dr Charlotte Osafo, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the five-year project would help “us know what is it that is causing this problem among the productive age in Ghana and the rest of the continent”. She said the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital had attended to kidney patients as young as 16 years whereas in the developed countries, many of the kidney patients are beyond 60 years. She said a team from the NIH which assessed the facilities at the hospital were highly impressed with what they saw and gave approval for the release of the grant. “If you compare the chronic cases we have here to those in Europe and the America’s you will observe that whereas their patients are from 60 years and above, ours involve people between the ages of 20 and 50 years,” she said. Moreover, she said, the Dialysis Unit of the teaching hospital of which she is the head, was attending to more patients since 2009 after the launch of the first-ever World Kidney Day activities in the country. According to Dr Osafo, other clinical units, particularly those handling diabetic and hypertensive cases, were referring patients to the Renal Unit for care. She explained that uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension could degenerate into kidney problems. Giving statistics on the number of kidney admissions since 2009, Dr Osafo said out of the 2,332 admissions at the Department of Medicine (Medical Block), 387 representing 16 per cent of the in-patients were kidney related. In 2010, the number increased to 437 patients representing 21.4 per cent of the 2,491 admissions at the department which again shot up to 627 patients in 2011, representing 23.3 of the 2,687 cases of admissions. Dr Osafo said from less than 50 patients who were on dialysis in 2006, the number had increased to 140 cases. The figure, she explained, formed less than 10 per cent of those suffering from chronic kidney problems and had to be put on dialysis. Dr Osafo said the current Dialysis Centre had outgrown its size and needed to be expanded to take on more patients. She explained that the centre was set up to host five dialysis machines but now accommodated 15 machines. She said the centre used to operate three times a week but now ran a 24/7 service to enable it to provide for patients suffering from chronic kidney ailments.