MANDEVILLE, Manchester — With more than 200 people on the waiting list at Mandeville Regional Hospital’s renal unit, Jamaicans are being encouraged to screen yearly for kidney disease.

Nephrology nurse manager at Mandeville Regional Hospital, Marika Davis-Miller told the
Jamaica Observer that the unit is constantly at full capacity.

“At our renal unit we have 12 stations. Unfortunately, for any patient to get on the system, somebody would have to die to get a spot there. [This] is why we are having this campaign now to encourage persons to take care of their kidneys,” Davis-Miller said on World Kidney Day last week.

More than 130 people were last Wednesday screened for kidney disease during a health fair at Cecil Charlton Park in Mandeville, in an effort to raise awareness.

“What I have noticed on a whole is that, unfortunately, Jamaicans are not really
au fait with kidney disease and the negative impact that it can have on somebody’s life,” added Davis-Miller.

She reiterated that the leading causes for kidney failure worldwide are uncontrolled diabetes and uncontrolled hypertension.

“The main treatment/therapy for kidney disease in Jamaica is hemodialysis. For the persons who work, you would have to take two days out of your schedule to go on the machine, so that is unfortunate. We want to prevent that and prevent a lot of persons from coming down with the illness — that is why we are doing our educational campaign right now.

“On our waiting list it is over 200, unfortunately, and we really would want it to go down,” Davis-Miller explained.

“The health fair is very important because, based on the theme this year which is ‘Kidney health for all’… it is advancing access to kidney care, equitable care, and also optimal medication practice. We are bringing the care to them so it is accessible to everyone, and it is easier when we detect the kidney at an early stage where it can be reversible. And one of the leading causes worldwide is uncontrolled blood pressure, that is what leads to kidney disease,” she added.

Renal patients on the waiting lists have had to seek treatment at private facilities.

Audrey Lawson-Bent, owner of Lawson Dialysis Centre Limited in Morning Side, near Junction in St Elizabeth, said her facility is seeking to assist renal patients on the waiting list at Mandeville Regional Hospital.

“There are a lot of people suffering from kidney disease. We are collaborating with the Mandeville Regional Hospital to take [patients] off the waiting list…In the event that I should have an emergency, they would be able to be transported there,” she explained.

“This is a private institution, so it is a form of helping those who are currently on a waiting list and not being dialysed… Even though I have a private institution it doesn’t mean I can do a free-for-all, but we will try and work with people who cannot afford it. We can set up a payment system for them,” she added.