36.8m Nigerians suffer from kidney disease - Expert

An expert has said that 36.8 million Nigerians (23 per cent) are suffering from various stages of kidney disease in Nigeria.

With this figure, it means that one in seven Nigerians is suffering from some form of kidney disorder.

President-elect, Nigeria Association of Nephrology and Chief Medical Director at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, Dr. Ebun Bamgboye, who disclosed this at an awareness programme organised by the hospital to mark this year's World Kidney Day, regretted that despite the severity of the disease, Nigerian patients are faced with many challenges in terms of treatment.

Bamgboye lamented the burden of the disease, noting that an estimated 15,000 new patients are diagnosed every year in the country.

He said: 'Chronic kidney disease prevalence is a problem in our environment. Estimates suggest that one out of every seven Nigerians has one stage of chronic kidney disease. Unfortunately, out of 50,000 patients who should ideally be on dialysis, less than 1,000 are currently on dialysis as at today.

'Unfortunately, if you have kidney failure and you don't do dialysis or transplant within two weeks you will die. You can imagine the number of people that are dying every day because of kidney disease.'