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President Bola Tinubu has approved a reduction in the price of each kidney dialysis session for patients, from N50,000 to N12,000, a spokesperson has said.
Daniel Bwala, a spokesperson to the president, made this known on Monday via his X handle.
The development, which will first commence in 10 public hospitals, will provide relief to thousands of Nigerians battling kidney-related diseases, many of whom cannot pay for the dialysis.
According to Mr Bwala, the subsidy is being implemented in major federal hospitals across the six geopolitical zones.
He noted that the subsidy has been well-received by patients, with many expressing satisfactions with the reduced costs.
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The first set of hospitals include, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute-Metta, Lagos, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, Abuja, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Maiduguri.
Others are the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Azare, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin, and University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Calabar.
He said that more federal medical centres and teaching hospitals will be added before the end of the year to widen access nationwide.
Kidney diseases and treatment in Nigeria
There is a growing prevalence of kidney diseases in Nigeria, owing to the consumption of contaminated foods, synthetic products and the influx of fake drugs, according to health experts.
Chronic kidney disease is a progressive condition that reduces kidney function, that is its ability to filter waste from the blood.
Kidney disease often has no symptoms in its early stages and can easily go undetected in most people until it is in its advanced stages.
In its advanced stage, an individual can develop kidney failure and require dialysis or a kidney transplant to live. At this stage, a CKD patient is said to lose 85-90 per cent of their kidney function; not enough to keep the person alive, without medical intervention.
READ ALSO: Experts link rising salt consumption to hypertension, kidney disease in Nigeria
Without the kidneys playing their vital role, substances that should otherwise be filtered, build up in the body. This makes the person severely ill.
Patients suffering from kidney diseases usually exhibit symptoms such as frequent or infrequent urination; shortness of breath, swelling in feet and ankles, muscle cramps, nausea and vomiting.
Once these symptoms have been observed, there is a need for dialysis or a kidney transplant to live.
More than 20 million Nigerians are said to be living with kidney disease. Similarly, a recent report shows that West Africans have a high risk of kidney diseases.
