Kidney patients struggle for medication as lockdown bites

Kampala- Patients with chronic kidney diseases are battling for their lives because of difficulty in accessing dialysis treatment.
Dialysis is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions naturally.

Some of the patients we talked to said they are finding difficulties in getting movement permits from resident district commissioners (RDC), while others come from places which do not offer the service.

“I have not bothered to go to the RDC given the congestion and the urgency. Our type of disease don’t have control… like you can leave hospital in the morning then after two hours, you get another complication…, if you are to wait for those letters, you might not get the service,” Mr Geoffrey Mayeku, a kidney patient from Bulambuli District, said yesterday.

Dr Daniel Kiggundu, a kidney specialist at Kiruddu hospital, said some patients have rationed their sessions.

“Some have not been seen since lockdown began. Some come to the hospital and simply stay in the wards,” he said.
Mr Mayeku has since taken refuge in Kampala to be able to access Norvik hospital treatment.

He has to walk from Bwaise, a Kampala suburb, to Norvik hospital to access treatment. “There are no hospitals which can offer dialysis, it is only done in Kampala and Mbarara,” he said, adding: “I go once a week, first of all it is expensive. Every session is Shs300,000 yet the recommended time is two times a week.”

In private hospitals, a session goes for Shs300,000 with additional services added. One at least needs Shs600,000 a day.
Dr Kiggundu said every session costs Shs60,000 at Kiruddu hospital compared to Shs300,000 to Shs500,000 in private facilities. He said authorities should issue open movement permits to such patients.

Efforts to get a comment from the Health ministry was futile by press time as health officials were reportly in a meeting.

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