At least 35 children die annually of kidney failure in the Ashanti region, health officials in the region have confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, seven out of the ten children who reported with the condition at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) have already died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a nephrologist at KATH, Dr. Anima Safo, the lack of paediatric dialysis machine in the region is making it difficult to handle kidney conditions among children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFrom 2013, we officially started collecting data and per year we get 30-35 kids who need kidney transplant at Komfo Anokye. Unfortunately, we haven\u2019t been able to save any of the kids that come in. They all die when they get to end-stage renal disease. We even lost one this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven with those who have the funds, we put them on the adult dialysis, they do one today and the next day they tell you the money is not ready. We\u2019ve seen about 10 cases so far this year. Some have passed and some are hanging in there [It\u2019s like sitting on a timebomb]. Out of the 10, 7 have passed,\u201d an emotional Dr Safo told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Thursday, adding \u201cFrom the data we have, the age range is from 5 to 14 years\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said there is an urgent need for the establishment of a paediatric dialysis centre in the region and other regions of the country to save children suffering from the condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need a pediatric dialysis machine in every region. You\u2019ll be surprised where we get referrals from. If we get at least 2 in every region, we can handle acute dialysis. Once you get the kidney disease, make sure you take your follow-up seriously because when you do the doctors are able to pick it up early before it gets to the end-stage renal disease\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Safo urged Ghanaians to regularly check on the health of their kidneys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMake sure you eat a healthy diet. Drink a lot of water, exercise. Check your blood level. Check if you have a family history. Don\u2019t smoke and don\u2019t abuse drugs. The sad thing is, about 70% of the cases that come are new and when you do the diagnosis, you realize they have end-stage renal disease. 30% are cases that come regularly<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Ghana\/Starrfm.com.gh\/103.5FM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At least 35 children die annually of kidney failure in the Ashanti region, health officials in the region have confirmed. This year, seven out of the ten children who reported with the condition at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) have already died. According to a nephrologist at KATH, Dr. Anima Safo, the lack of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n