THE Premier Service Medical Investment Pvt (Ltd) (PSMI), has collaborated with Dr Wilfred Muteweye who is a cardiovascular surgeon based in Harare and a member of the Surgical Society of Zimbabwe as well as the Head of the UFIC Health Department to provide eight patients with a service donation of free fistula creation
By Michael Gwarisa
The move is in line with PSMI Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) interventions and is also a World Kidney Day gift from PSMI to the community. An Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is a permanent access recommended for patients on chronic dialysis. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of creating this AVF, most patients cannot afford it as the Cardiovascular Surgeon charges in Zimbabwe range from US$850 to US$980 over and above the hospital, theatre and sundries charges.
The fistula creation service donation will ensure availability of ACF’s for Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients ensures positive clinical outcomes as it promotes infection prevention and control during dialysis, thus eliminating missed sessions due to catheter infections.
Speaking during the handover event of the service, PSMI Executive Director, Health Services, Dr Margret Maulana said,”…we have decided as PSMI that regardless of resource constraints and challenges we are facing as a country we are going through as a country we can afford to spare something to make sure that our surgeon is able to create access for the patients to have comfortable access for their dialysis.
This we are doing as we move towards the vision of one day being able to provide kidney transplants. Our patients were taken from various centres running dialysis centres both in PSMI centres in Harare and Bulawayo and Mutare and also from our two tertiary institutions so that we give equal opportunities for our patients.”
The initiative will benefit four CKD patients from PSMI Renal Facilities and four patients from government hospitals, namely Parirenyatwa and Sally Mugabe Hospitals. Scheduled to take place at the PSMI West End Hospital in Harare today, the operational costs for this initiative amounts to ZWL $560 897.12 which translates to ZWL $70 112.14 per patient.
This initiative comes through not only to commemorate or raise awareness on the World Kidney day, but as a noble and much needed service that will no doubt go a long in safeguarding convenient, comfortable and efficient dialysis for the eight beneficiaries.
March is National Kidney Month and March 10 is World Kidney Day. World Kidney Day is a global campaign to raise awareness on the importance of our kidneys to overall health. The aim is to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and associated health problems worldwide. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a non-communicable disease usually caused by diabetes and hypertension, with cardiovascular disease being the major cause of the early morbidity and mortality sustained by patients with CKD. The Lancet report on CKD in 2017, states that the global prevalence of CKD was 9.1%, which is roughly 700 million cases and since 1990, the prevalence of CKD has increased by 29.3% although the age-standardised prevalence has remained unchanged during the period under review.
To this end, kidney disease is a global public health problem that varies substantially across the world, as does its detection and treatment. Although the magnitude and impact of kidney disease is better defined in developed countries, emerging evidence suggests that developing countries have a similar or even greater kidney disease burden. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors, leading to significant disparities in disease burden, even in developed countries.
These disparities exist across the spectrum of kidney disease, from preventive efforts to curb development of acute kidney injury (AKI) or CKD, to screening for kidney disease among persons at high risk, as well as access to subspecialty care and treatment of kidney failure with renal replacement therapy (RRT).
