Japanese Tokushukai Medical Group this week handed over 20 dialysis machines to the Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital in Maseru in a move tipped to enhance quality health services to chronic kidney disease patients in Lesotho.
The event also marked the official opening of a dialysis unit at the hospital, the second of its kind after the one at Motebang Hospital in Hlotse, Leribe.
Sometimes referred to as a ‘silent disease’ as there are often few or no symptoms, kidney disease is when your kidneys are damaged in some way and are not filtering your blood effectively. In fact, you can lose up to 90 per cent of your kidneys’ functionality before experiencing any symptoms.
According to medical experts, if detected early enough, the progress of kidney disease can be slowed and sometimes even prevented. In the early stages, changes to diet and medication can help to increase the life of your kidneys.
If kidney function is reduced to less than 10 per cent of normal, the loss of function must be replaced by dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Dialysis is a treatment for kidney failure that removes waste products and extra water from the blood by filtering it through a special membrane (fine filter). The Motebang Hospital is said to have treated no less than 186 patients since it started operating in 2021.
No doubt the new dialysis unit will go a long way towards containing this potentially deadly disease. We hope the equipment is well taken care of, and the health workers do not live up to the unenviable reputation of maltreatment of patients.
