Reprieve for kidney patients as Chuka Hospital acquires a dialysis machine

Doctors prepare to start the first ever dialysis services on a patient at the Chuka County Referral Hospital in Tharaka-Nithi County on October 11, 2016. PHOTO | ALEX NJERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • First three patients successfully underwent dialysis on Tuesday.
  • Many Kenyans who suffer from renal failure die because they cannot afford the recommended dialysis sessions due to financial challenges.

The Chuka County Referral Hospital has started offering dialysis services. 

Medical Superintendent Elijah Kameti said the five state of the art dialysis machines, leased to the county by the national government, will completely relieve renal failure patients the agony of seeking the service in far-flung hospitals. 

The first three patients successfully underwent dialysis on Tuesday. 

Alice Makena, a relative to one of the patients who were attended said she has been taking her kin to Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital but since the health workers are on strike, she had opted to travel to Kenyatta. 

“I had planned to take my patient to Kenyatta National Hospital only to learn that I can get the service here in Chuka,” said Ms Makena.

Dr Kameti said the services will be offered Monday through Friday and on weekends in case of an emergency. He added that there is an experienced team of doctors and nurses working at the unit and asked patients within Tharaka-Nithi and the neighbouring counties to seek services there.

The doctor said many Kenyans who suffer from renal failure die because they cannot afford the recommended dialysis sessions due to financial challenges. “Each dialysis session costs about Sh6,000 in our hospital and between Sh12,000 to Sh15,000 in private facilities and the recommended frequency of dialysis sessions per week is two making it very hard for a common person to afford,” he said. 

Dr Kameti emphasised on the need for sensitisation about the disease whose common causes are diabetes and hypertension.