40,000 die of kidney failure annually in Bangladesh

DHAKA - About 20 million people in Bangladesh are suffering from chronic kidney disease while 40,000 die of kidney failure in the country every year, Xinhua news agency reported Sunday.

There is only one nephrologist for 2.5 million people in the country but the ratio should be one for 50,000 people, experts said here at a seminar.

Experts at the seminar on “Chronic Kidney Diseases: Bangladesh Perspective” organised by a local science organisation said more and more people in Bangladesh are suffering from kidney disease for various reasons including diabetes, high blood pressure and genetic factors.

According to information revealed in the seminar, 51 percent people in the country are not aware of diabetes, 65 percent are not aware of high blood pressure, while 65 percent do not know whether any albumin is passing with their urine.

Presenting a keynote paper, kidney specialist Harun-Ur-Rashid said the rate of chronic kidney disease was increasing alarmingly across the world, including Bangladesh, and it was being considered one of the major health concerns.

The big problem in the chronic kidney disease is that it has no symptom and people with the disease do not visit doctors, he said, adding when the symptoms did appear the kidneys had already gone out of order.

Harun said regular dialysis or transplantation was needed to keep the kidney functional. About 90 percent people cannot afford the treatment cost as the dialysis or transplantation is very expensive. As a result, they slowly move towards death, he said.

Harun also suggested walking for at least 30 minutes every day, avoiding extra salt consumption and smoking as well as controlling fat to tackle the disease.