Especially youths have been urged to shun donating their kidneys for business to avoid serious health complications which may arise

Vice-President Dr Philip Mpango made the call on Friday after inaugurating a building for dialysis services at St Joseph’s Peramiho Referral Hospital, as part of activities of his working tour of Ruvuma Region.

Dr Mpango said such behaviour may endanger human life, especially when the remaining kidney fails to function.

He therefore called upon Tanzanians to build a culture of making regular check up of their health in order to avoid the risk of developing complicated diseases.

The VP added that it is important for people to avoid poor eating habit, excessive use of alcohol and conduct physical exercise in order to avoid ailments that affect kidney.

He also called upon leaders and health experts to continue raising public awareness about kidney disease in order to help them to take preventive measures.

According to the VP, kidney disease is among the ailments leading in causing deaths to many people globally. He added that in Tanzania it is estimated that in every 100 people seven people have chronic kidney disease.

Dr Mpango said that 10 per cent of patients with chronic kidney disease in the country have reached the last stage which requires alternative treatment including dialysis or kidney transplant.

He further said that the government is implementing various interventions with the aim of preventing kidney disease and other Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in which to date more than 20 kidney super specialists and ten nurses have completed training and are currently providing services to various hospitals in the country.

He further detailed that until June this year, the government has succeeded in providing dialysis services to about 3,500 patients and perform kidney transplant to 74 patients at Muhimbili National Hospital and 33 patients at Benjamin Mkapa Zonal Referral Hospital in Dodoma.