MOST of us give little thought to inconvenient matters such as kidney disease.

Yet, we are told that one in seven Jamaicans are likely to face illnesses related to our kidneys at some point. Furthermore, if we live long enough we will very likely know of someone, possibly a relative or a friend, who has succumbed.

Health experts say kidney failure, also called renal failure, is often the last stage for people suffering chronic, common illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension.

When kidneys — two bean-shaped organs either side of the lower abdomen and close to the lower back — fail, the human body is unable to naturally rid itself of liquid waste.

In such situations dialysis, involving experts using expensive equipment, is the usual solution. However, dialysis waiting lists in Jamaica’s State-run facilities are way too long.

And while, ideally, dialysis should be done thrice weekly, it often only happens twice per week.

For those opting to get dialysis done privately, the bill runs to tens of thousands of dollars weekly.

The treatment is also extremely stressful for patients, as explained by 25-year-old Miss Taylor Douglas, who ended up spending six years to complete her undergraduate degree.

That’s because time-consuming dialysis treatment caused her to miss crucial classes and often left her drowsy, unable to stay alert.

As reported in our latest Sunday edition, Miss Douglas went from “ ‘…I only have one year left,’ to ‘I’m spending almost six years at university’…”

All of which largely explains why she is now attempting the relatively rare and acutely expensive process of getting a kidney transplant.

“I can’t really stay on dialysis for my entire life,” says Miss Douglas who, as fate would have it, is the grandchild of Professor Lawson Douglas, the first to perform a kidney transplant in Jamaica, back in 1970.

“It is not a very good quality of life with dialysis three times a week. I have to take time off work to go to dialysis, and sometimes, if I’m not careful, I can go maybe a day or two out of work because I’m just that exhausted after dialysis; I can barely get out of bed the next day,” she added.

However, the kidney transplant process is fraught with difficulty. Even if in Miss Douglas’s case the US$150,000 price tag can be met — she is now doing a
GoFundMe campaign — there is still the extreme challenge of finding a compatible donor.

Medical experts say kidney donors continue to have perfectly normal lives with just one kidney. Also, people are being urged to donate organs for extraction, as deemed appropriate, after their death.

We note that medical practitioners have joined their voices in a call for what our reporter describes as a “robust and comprehensive national transplant programme that raises awareness and encourages more citizens to become donors…”

In 2022 Member of Parliament for St Thomas Eastern Dr Michelle Charles reportedly called for a national campaign to encourage organ donation.

We are especially touched by a lobby and official petition launched by 17-year-old Miss Zoe Johnson also urging a national organ transplant programme.

History teaches that where desire and determination exist, many seemingly impossible things become possible.

A big question is whether Jamaicans and their leaders possess that will to deal fundamentally with kidney failure.