'Awareness can reduce kidney disease risk'
At least 20 million people in the country are suffering from different kidney diseases while five people die of kidney related problems every hour, a roundtable was told on Tuesday.
While the stats are alarming, the deaths related to kidney diseases can be significantly reduced by creating awareness among people and making them live a healthy lifestyle, speakers said at the roundtable.
Prothom Alo, in association with BRB Hospitals Limited, organised the roundtable titled ‘Kidney disease Is preventable: Awareness is needed’ at the newspaper's Karwan Bazar office in Dhaka.
Speaking at the programme, Kidney Foundation Hospital and Research Institute Bangladesh’s Nephrology department chief Md Harun-or-Rashid said the number of specialists in the country has to increase.
“There are only 120 nephrologists in Bangladesh while the number is 250 and more than 1000 in Pakistan and India respectively,” he added.
He advised the physicians not to prescribe too much antibiotics and pain killers as it can exacerbate kidney diseases.
Professor Harun urged the government to set separate guidelines for every diseases, including kidney ailments.
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) director general Abul Kalam Azad assured of setting the guidelines soon.
He also said the government is planning to make the community clinics more effective and establishing medical colleges in every district so that the rural people can avail the best health services.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University pro-vice chancellor Muhammad Rafiqul Alam stressed the need for initiating school health programme to make children aware of health related issues.
He also urged the government to make a guideline regarding use of herbal medicine as some herbal medicines contribute to kidney related diseases.
BRB Hospital Limited deputy director MA Rahman said there should be awareness campaigns to let people know the negative impacts of consumption of date expired medicine as it is one of the main reasons of kidney diseases.
BSMMU’s Nephrology department chiarman Asia Khanam said many schoolchildren suffers from kidney disease as they do not want to use unhygienic toilets of their school.
She urged everyone to maintain a balanced lifestyle to prevent kidney related problems.
Moderated by Prothom Alo associate editor Abdul Quayum, the roundtable was also addressed by Dhaka Medical College’s head of Nephrology department Md Nizamuddin Chowdhury, BRB Hospitals Limited Nephrology department’s chief consultant MA Samad, Urology and Transplantation Foundation of Bangladesh founder president MA Salam, BRB Hospitals Limited chief executive officer Abu Altaf Hossain, the hospital’s consultant Muhammad Abdul Hamid, former national cricket captain Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu, and Daily Ittefaq’s chief reporter Abul Khayer.