Healing Stripes raises awareness on kidney diseases
heALING Stripes hospital in partnership with the vikram hospital in India, has organised a three-day free medical camp to create kidney health awareness in Lagos State.
The camp, which started on the September 28, witnessed the presence of several people who came for check ups ranging from kidney screening to hemodialysis.
The Medical Director (MD) of the hospital, Dr. Ezinne Onyemere, told The Guardian that the hospital was established five years ago as part of the Christian Corporate Social Responsibilities of the Redeem Christian Church of God (RCCG).
“So we are here to make sure that basic health care is affordable and reliable,” Onyemere said.
Explaining why the focus was on kidney health awareness, Onyemere said, for two years, the hospital has been running a Dialysis Centre, and they have seen issues that people go through with renal illness.
“People actually get caught up in it without having any idea of what is going on with them,” she said.
The MD further pointed out that, the greatest challenge faced, apart from the expensive cost of haemodialysis, is the fact that “people are not being health conscious in our country, and they do not want to know, probably because health care in the country is not as accessible as it is suppose to be.”
Debunking the notion that the camp is a church affair, Onyemere noted that it was open to the general public, adding “from time to time, we do these free health care for the general public to be health conscious.”
She said that in May 2015 for instance, a free eye screening for glaucoma was conducted for the general public.
“There has been a lot of publicity concerning the camp in various media. It is just that most people heard the announcement in church.
Onyemere confirmed the expensive cost of dialysis in the country, explaining that the consumables were imported and they cost a fortune.
“So that is why we need to let people know how complex the kidney is and the importance of taking care of it,” she added.
“We know the financial implications of running dialysis; hence 60 free sessions were given for the three-day camp to relieve our renal patients.
When our correspondent, spoke with some patients at the camp, most of them expressed gratitude to the church, as they said it was a great platform to reach people in the society, while some were happy it was for free.
On of the participants, who identified self as Adeyemi, however expressed disappointment in the local governments and their inability to offer such level of care.
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1 Comments
Contrary to the headline , I havn’t seen any awareness or informative message on kidney diseases prevention or management
We will review and take appropriate action.