MONTEGO BAY, St James — This week is being observed as World Kidney Awareness Week, and the renal dialysis unit at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) has planned a host of activities geared at raising awareness of chronic kidney disease and renal failure.

This year’s World Kidney Awareness Week is being observed from March 5-11, with World Kidney Day celebrated on March 9 under the theme ‘Preparing for the unexpected, supporting the vulnerable!’

To kick-start the week Georgette Lee-Green, a patient care assistant at CRH, told the Jamaica Observer that patients and their loved ones are invited to gather for worship at 9:00 am on Sunday at Salt Spring New Testament Church of God in this western parish. The renal department is looking forward to celebrating its 114 patients during this week.

“The patients and staff will be in attendance. They, the patients and staff, will also be actively involved in the service,” Lee-Green said.

Over three days the department will be hosting educational seminars for the relatives and loved ones of those diagnosed with kidney diseases, Lee-Green shared. She explained that with a high prevalence rate of chronic kidney disease across the Jamaica society the CRH renal unit believes that more support is needed for its patients.

“On March 8-10 we will be having a patient education seminar and also a patient appreciation day; the relatives are invited to come in. We will be giving the patients educational talks on their nutrition, a psychologist will be coming in, a pharmacist will be coming, and different churches in the community will be involved in these activities,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Lee-Green also noted that a lack of understanding and support had caused several renal patients to feel isolated. Some have also been bullied for their illness, according to the patient care assistant.

“This week is also aimed at educating the public about what renal failure is and what dialysis is, because I don’t believe that the public is adequately informed or they even know what it is. Sometimes we have our patients who have a catheter in and are disfigured being teased for it. People who have cancer are supported but I believe that persons who are on dialysis need to be treated fairly just the same,” she said.

In addition to that, preventative measures will also be shared during this three-day seminar.

“It is also to sensitise the public on what it is and how to prevent the disease. We know that the two main causes of renal failure are high blood pressure and [elevated] blood sugar. Kidney disease affects everybody. We have patients who are in high school and some who are retired so it affects people of all ages, but it mostly affects people who are diabetic and suffer from high blood pressure,” said Lee-Green.

To close the week of celebration the CRH team will be heading to Montego Bay’s Sam Sharpe Square on March 11 to host a blood drive.

“We know that renal patients don’t produce blood like a healthy person would so sometimes their blood count is low and we have to send them to the blood bank for blood, but there is no blood there. So we saw the dire need for this and we are having a blood drive at Sam Sharpe Square between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm,” she told the Sunday Observer.

The situation at the blood bank, she added, was the sole reason behind the staff’s decision to pool their resources together to plan this week of activities.

“This is all funded by the staff. The staff of the renal department pooled their funds together to organise this week for our patients and their loved ones,” said Lee-Green.

The patient care assistant further pointed out that the general public’s support is critical to the success of their events.

“We would love the public to come out and support our events, especially the blood drive on Saturday, because there are a lot of accidents happening so the blood bank sometimes doesn’t have enough blood to supply the victims of these accidents and our renal patients. This is a worthy cause, and people who come out to donate will also be getting a special gift. We also encourage those who have relatives or friends on dialysis to come out to hear how they can be more supportive of their loved ones,” she said.