There is a growing concern about the increasing rate of kidney diseases in Ghana with 13 out of 100 people believed to be having some form of kidney disease. 

This translates to about four million of the over 30 million Ghanaians living with kidney diseases, a situation that requires urgent attention from all stakeholders. 

A Consultant Nephrologist at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Dr Elliot Koranteng Tannor, who made the disclosure said the danger is that people are getting kidney diseases at younger ages in Ghana. 

“Our average age of people with kidney failures and on dialysis is about 46 years which is worrying,” he said at a public lecture in Kumasi to commemorate World Kidney Day.

The public lecture was put together by the Ghana Kidney Association in collaboration with PATH Ghana. 

The theme for this year’s celebration is, “Are Your Kidneys Ok? Detect Early, Protect Kidney Health” which focuses on the importance of early detection and intervention to prevent kidney disease. 

Dr Tannor, who is also a Senior Lecturer at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), said the major conditions driving kidney diseases including hypertension and diabetes were on ascendancy. 

He bemoaned the wanton abuse of herbal medications and pain killers without knowing how they were affecting kidneys.

He advised the public not to wait to get symptoms before seeking medical attention because it would have been too late to salvage the situation, stressing the importance of checking the health of their kidneys periodically. 

“Unlike malaria and other diseases you can have kidney disease for five years without any symptom and you will look ok until you check,” he cautioned. 

In the Ashanti Region, Dr Tannor revealed that kidney disease burden had increased by four times over the last ten years per a study conducted by KATH. 

He said about 70 per cent of people who reported to the facility with kidney related conditions were either on the verge or already having kidney failures.

“The worrying aspect is that majority of them end up dying on admission according to the data we have in Komfo Anokye,” he noted. 

He reiterated that picking patients with kidney disease early gave room for controlling their risk factors, thereby preventing the disease from progressing and eventually saving their lives. 

According to him, when patients come in late, the options are dialysis or transplantation at a huge cost. 

Dr Robert Yeboah, Programme Director, Healthy Heart Africa Programme, PATH Ghana, said the theme for the celebration also focused on combating low awareness rates on chronic kidney diseases worldwide, especially among high risk populations. 

He said chronic kidney disease is estimated to affect approximately 850 million people across the world and if left undetected and treated timely, could progress to kidney failure, leading to severe complications and premature mortality. 

“By 2040, chronic kidney disease is projected to become the 5th leading cause of years of life loss with less than 10 per cent of people with chronic kidney disease aware of their disease,” he pointed out. 

Despite the significant disease burden, Dr Yeboah said chronic kidney disease was under-prioritised on global and national health agenda, highlighting the urgent need for global strategies to combat the disease.