PMGH makes effort to address kidney ailments in country

By ZINA KOIM
CHRONIC kidney disease (CKD) may only affect less than one per cent of the population in Papua New Guinea, but an official says all patients treated at the Port Moresby General Hospital have died.
Hospital board member Paul Waka Kiruwa was speaking during the opening of the new dialysis centre last Wednesday.
He said CKD affected an estimated 120 persons of every million in PNG which equated to 0.012 per cent of the population.
While the prevalence of CKD in the country is low by regional and world standards, mortality rates are high due to a lack of treatment capability.
In the Pacific, Polynesian and Micronesian nations exhibit higher rates of KCD, some as high as 25 per cent, while indigenous and Pacific Island communities in Australia and New Zealand, the region’s two leading economies, experience high rates of CKD.
“In a population of about 10 million in PNG about 1,200 persons are living with CKD,” he said.
“All CKD patient have died due to non-availability of hemodialysis and kidney transplant services,” he said.
He said the hospital’s kidney project and recent opening of the new kidney dialysis centre would result in mores lives being saved.
“The PMGH kidney project aims address the immense need to save the life of existing patients requiring hemodialysis by establishing kidney dialysis service,” Kiruwa said.
“Also, the hospital will venture into offering kidney transplant surgery for CKD patients so that the need indefinite dialysis treatment is avoided and/or reduced through effective preventive healthcare.”
He said the establishment of the centre was a crucial development in sustainable healthcare especially for CKD patients in the country.
Kiruwa said in order to address the burden of the CKD, effective awareness and reduction of risk factors were required.
“Effective kidney screening programmes, hemodialysis programmes and kidney transplant programmes are required,” he said.
“We actually have very good and hardworking staff who are capable but lack the resources and the equipment.”
Meanwhile, PMGH chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi said one of the main causes of kidney disease was diabetes.
“We address sugar, we will address kidney disease,” Molumi said.
“Moving forward we have to address the cause same time we are trying to address the problem so down the line, the number of people with kidney disease should be coming down as we move towards addressing the cause.”
He said that could only be addressed through a holistic approach.
“We will need the department of health, those who were train in health,” Molumi said.
“We will need the education department so we educated them through schools and we are going to need support from all the government departments so we drive the awareness in the country.”