Joy as Tanzanian surgeons perform kidney transplant
ippmedia.com/en/news/joy-tanzanian-surgeons-perform-kidney-transplant
July 3, 2020
03
Jul 2020
Correspondent
Dodoma
News
The Guardian
Joy as Tanzanian surgeons perform kidney transplant
TANZANIAN surgeons at the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH) have performed the second kidney transplant at the facility without supervision of foreign specialists in what is seen as a feat towards the end of sending patients abroad.
Addressing journalists here yesterday, the contented BMH Executive Director Dr Alphonce Chandika said that this successful procedure by Tanzanian experts follows the first one pulled off earlier in March.
Previously, the hospital was performing the delicate surgical procedure with close support and supervision of specialists from Tokushukay Medical Corporation of Japan, he stated.
BMH is now well equipped to serve hundreds of Tanzanians with the disease as part of ongoing government efforts to cut down the number of kidney patients seeking treatment abroad.
“The move also helps to save vast sums of money that the country would have spent sending patients abroad. About 100m/- is needed for kidney transplant abroad while it suffices for four patients within the country,” he said.
BMH commenced kidney transplant services in 2018 with close support of experts from Japan, he recalled.
The hospital also provides services to patients with kidney stones through a method of grinding the fatty stones into particles, draining them out of the body through urine.
“So through the service patients suffering from kidney stones will no longer have to undergo surgery. We have so far performed the procedure on 15 patients,” Dr Chandika noted.
He emphasized on the need to conduct regular health checkups including on kidneys to rescue millions of shillings and inconvenience used in treatment.
For his part, head of the kidney diseases department, Dr Kessy Shija commended President Magufuli for his efforts which have improved services in the health sector.
“Since we commended in 2018, we have conducted kidney transplants on 13 patients from various parts of the country, two patients having been treated by local experts,” he said.
Prof Ipyana Mwampagatwa hailed the doctors for bringing smiles to the treated Tanzanians.
Kidney diseases and other non-communicable diseases increasingly account for cases of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.
Available data show that 6.8 percent of the Tanzanian population has kidney complications and about 800 patients need dialysis in major hospitals countrywide at present.
Statistics by the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that 4,704 Tanzanians died of kidney failure in 2014.