Kidney diseases on the rise- experts warn
Health experts have warned that there is a rise in chronic kidney disease in the country.
“Right now, one in four people has high blood pressure and two or three in every 10 people have diabetes. However, it is bad to note that these two non-communicable diseases are the two most common causes of chronic kidney disease yet many people don’t even know they have it,” Dr. Gerald Mutungi, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of non communicable diseases in the Ministry of Health said.
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He was speaking during the launch of AstraZeneca's Health Heart Africa 2.0 (HHA 2.0) initiative, aimed at combating Chronic Kidney Diseases (CKD) in Uganda.
The launch was held at Protea Hotel in Kampala.
Dr.Mutungi said failure to control hypertension and diabetes is to blame for the rise in chronic kidney disease, noting it is a silent killer , progressing without symptoms as the kidneys gradually and permanently lose function over months or years.
He partly blamed this on the lifestyles of Ugandans.
“Our lifestyles have changed and we now eat poorer but also not doing enough exercises which contribute to diabetes which if not controlled leads to kidney diseases.”
The Health Minister, Dr.Jane Ruth Aceng said Ugandans should not wait for symptoms of chronic kidney disease since these might not show at an early stage.
“Screening is crucial in ensuring early detection. When visiting a health facility for whatever reason, being it visiting a friend or taking care of a friend, don’t walk away without checking your blood pressure. If for whatever reason you pass near any health facility, have your blood pressure and sugar checked. If it is bad, sit down, ponder and do the needful. If it is okay, walk away determined to keep it that way,”Dr.Aceng said.
The program
The Healthy Heart Africa 2.0 by Astra Zeneca is a significant step forward in preventive healthcare and the reinforcement of robust health systems throughout Africa.
Speaking during the launch, Dr. Tonny Tumwesigye, the Executive Director of the Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau said the initiative aims to combat the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular ailments in the country.
“We shall be working in 10 hospitals around the country. In particular, we don’t have health centre IIs but we will use them as entry points in terms of screening and demand creation and cause them to do referral mechanisms,” Dr.Tumwesigye said.
He said to implement the initiative, they will be working with the Ministry of Health and AstraZeneca.
“Our social change and innovation model is what we are using to reach clients and ensure we look for those that need these services in a bid to contribute to prevention, control and decrease the burden of hypertension, diabetes and chronic kidney disease in the country.”
Deepak Arora, the Africa Cluster Country President at AstraZeneca, highlighted the pivotal shift from treatment to prevention in addressing cardiovascular diseases.
“We need to move from treatment to prevention so that we can support early screening diagnosis and treatment for people who deserve it,”Arora said.
He underscored AstraZeneca’s commitment to collaboration between public and private sectors, through partnerships, adding that AstraZeneca is dedicated to addressing non-communicable diseases beyond vaccines, focusing on cardiovascular, metabolic, oncology, respiratory, immunology, and rare diseases.
The Health Minister, Dr.Jane Ruth Aceng hailed the initiative as an opportunity for Uganda to accelerate movement towards universal health coverage in essential health services .
