George and the fate of Nigerians with Chronic Kidney Failure

I was enjoying a long vacation in Lagos, Nigeria during my secondary/high school days in late 90’s when I watched the announcement on African Independent Television (AIT) calling on viewers to donate towards the “Save Steve Kadiri” Appeal Fund. Steve Kadiri was an ace broadcaster with Ray Power 100.5FM in Lagos. He was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Failure and was undergoing hemodialysis while preparation for kidney transplant was ongoing. Prior to that time, I knew nothing about kidney disease. I imagined how serious the illness was to require kidney transplant that was to cost about five million naira (N5m) then. Steve’s colleagues in the media continued the announcement for months until he eventually had the transplant in 2001. When I heard that Steve had a successful transplant, I was excited that the moneys donated by good spirited Nigerians were not in vain. Although the transplanted kidney eventually developed another problem that claimed Steve’s life in 2009, the earlier intervention and love showered on him extended his life by at least ten years. 

I began to understand the plight of people with kidney failure during my clinical posting in Nephrology Unit of the University College Hospital, Ibadan while I was a medical student. Then, I observed that chronic kidney disease was debilitating and adversely alters the body systemic functions; I noted that the cost of hemodialysis was unaffordable and unsustainable for a middle-income earner/family and also that most of our patients were usually moved from the ward to the morgue. 

Three years later while working as a House Physician in Nigeria’s capital – Abuja, I also worked in the Nephrology unit for three months. During this time, I co-managed patients with a variety of kidney diseases and also monitored some of them during hemodialysis.  None of the aforementioned observations I made while in medical school had changed. Rather, I noticed that we had a lot of teenagers and young adults being admitted for chronic kidney failure. It also came to my consciousness that a significant portion of our patients were people of low or middle socioeconomic class. The experience was frustrating because the fate of majority of people with such diagnosis in Nigeria is usually heartbreaking.

What are the causes of kidney failure? Why would a young man have chronic renal failure? Why can’t dialysis cure kidney failure? Why is renal transplant the definitive treatment? Why is the treatment so expensive? Why is there a possibility of recurrence even after transplant? What is the government doing to raise awareness on prevention of kidney diseases? Does Nigerian government support the treatment of people with chronic kidney diseases? If “No”,  then why not?

The questions above could be one of those boggling the minds of many compatriots. I do not intend to provide the answers in this piece. Then why I’m I writing this article? 

 George Chimezirim Egbuchulam is another  compatriot diagnosed recently to have chronic renal failure. As I write, he is still undergoing conservative management and would benefit from renal replacement therapy (kidney transplant) if more good spirited people show him the kind of love that Steve Kadiri got. George is a very intelligent young man and has been full of life, doing great things and serves as a model to his younger colleagues. I’ve not met him in person but I’m not ignorant of his activities and positive impact he has been making as an undergraduate and now a graduate student of the University of Ibadan, my alma mater. It was not surprising that thousands of Nigerian youths have embarked on intense online advocacy to raise the eight million naira (N8m) for George’s renal transplant and associated postoperative expenditures. Already, over N2million has been reportedly raised but I do know the ongoing dialysis would continue to depreciate available resources.

But why should people with such conditions be allowed to bear the burden alone? The government of United States, as rich as the country is, takes over the treatment of people with chronic kidney disease under the Medicare insurance program. Would it be out of place if government of Nigeria designates a portion of our collective wealth to assist George and other people in his situation? Thankfully, Delta State government responded to the #SaveOke twitter campaign and supported his surgery for a chronic leg ulcer (most likely due to diabetes) in India; Oke is a young man in his 20’s. Must the government always wait such advocacy to respond? What about the likes of many patients I managed with similar conditions that lost their lives? Has life become that cheap?

While I use this medium to call on well-meaning Nigerians to come to the aid of George Chimezirim Egbuchulam, I strongly recommend that the federal/state governments create a fund to finance the treatment of people diagnosed with chronic renal failure and other chronic disorders that are very expensive to treat. Preventive measures should also be taken to reduce the incidence of renal pathologic conditions in the country. It’s traumatizing to imagine that George’s may have further complications should the surgery be delayed, God forbid!

Please let’s save George, kindly send your donations to any of his accounts:

GTBank – 0117968706; Fidelity Bank – 3020722444; Unity Bank - 0018310939

May God bless everyone who has made contributions towards the efforts to save George’s life very abundantly. 


Addendum:

I'm excited to disclose that over N5million has been reportedly raised for George, a kidney donor has been identified and the surgery would be done in the near future. 
I think it would be great if we channel similar energy used to canvass for the fund raising to carry out a strong advocacy for government to take over treatment of people diagnosed with chronic renal failure. This can be done through the platform of Health Advocacy & Promotion Partnership by Youths in Nigeria. (HAPPYNigeria). You may wish to follow @HAPPYNigeria on twitter.