Uganda is considering legislation
which would make it possible to
perform organ transplants
in the country for the first time.
Such an accomplishment will
transform the life
of many Ugandan citizens
who are currently waiting on an
organ transplant.
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| Image Credit Google |
of living a healthy and independent
lifestyle, but when she found out three
years ago
that she had kidney failure, all that
changed. Now, Annita spends most of her
time either going
through dialysis or preparing for the
next session—her entire day revolves
around this machine
which is essentially performing her
kidneys’ function and cleaning her blood
from wastes
and excess fluids.
Every session takes about four hours
and she has to visit the hospital two
times a week.
In between sessions she spends most of
her time at home - with family or relatives -
helping
out around the house and watching over a
group chat for friends and donors who
give money every so often.
I was this ambitious girl. I wanted to be
someone's girlfriend or wife and live my
life
out like that but it doesn't work out
because all of my dreams are shattered.
A kidney transplant would allow them
to return home but the high cost of
surgery,
coupled with other factors such as travel
and medication, limits many people from
being able to do so.
Thousands of Ugandans are unable to
afford the procedure because a kidney
transplant can cost up to $30,000—
more than five times the average
household income in Uganda.
The Kiruddu National Referral Hospital is
the only public hospital that provides
treatment
for children who are deaf-blind in Uganda.
Many of these children come from far
away
to receive medical care, often travelling
for days.
However, these numbers are only a part of
those countrywide who live with kidney
failure
and in need of specialised care.
It's unnatural to leave everything for a job
when it may not last, Dr Daniel Kiggundu,
the only kidney specialist working at the
unit, explains in an interview with news
least twice a week
The ward is a noisy place, with its beeping
machines reverberating throughout.
Nurses
are bustling around dialysis stations,
seeing to patients who come here for
treatments.
Some patients drift off into sleep as they
wait; others stay awake and chat with
their nurses.
The clinic runs two shifts each day -
both of which take in about thirty people
at once -
so it often reaches its max capacity,
forcing the staff to work fast without any
spare time to prep them for treatments.
realised she was sick when her entire body
began to swell and it took 18 months
before
she got the right diagnosis. Everything
changed; she had to drop out of university
where she studied law and lost her job,
having to move far away from family
in Western Uganda to Kampala so that
medical treatments were more
accessible -
while they were still costly despite
government subsidies. Quiet at home,
yet graceful in all she does,
this woman - who can't stop mentioning
how expensive everything has become -
diligently cleans dishes after a long day
at the hospital for sessions of dialysis
treatment as
if nothing's wrong, other than an
inconvenient cast on one arm
I feel like a-burden:
Uganda will soon join an elite group of African nations, including South Africa, Tunisia
under strict regulation to make sure there
is no abuse. The proposal includes the
creation
of a national waiting list of organ
recipients as well as the establishment
of specialised transplant
centers around the country.
An operating theatre has already been
set up at the
main national hospital in Mulago,
Kampala. Organ banks will also be
created for those
who want to donate - and not just for
kidneys.
We are [also] thinking of corneal
transplants for the eyes [and] skin banks
for patients
who have burns, says Dr-Fualal Jane
Odubu,-chairperson of the,,
Uganda Medical Board,,
About a hundred Ugandan healthcare
of them focusing on how to carry out
kidney transplants. However, there will
still be a waiting list
and the need to raise funds. As hopeful as
all this sounds, Lisa Twongyeirwe knows
that
they're in for an uphill battle. Despair
isn't far from anyone's mind. She holds
back her own tears
while recounting one of their members
who tragically passed away recently -
it took everyone else
with him.
For her, the new legislation could be
transformative. Patients who need
transplants will now be able
to receive them - helping them lead full
lives again - because they will no longer
worry about
having to leave or travel abroad due to
lack of donors domestically.
Donating a kidney is basically giving
someone else your second chance at life,
she said. Some people are afraid that
they'll incur all the costs of going
overseas while also
running the risk of arriving only to find
out that the donor has changed their
mind.