R-E-V-E-A-L-E-D! Nigeria has less than 20 paediatric nephrologists – Don

A Consultant Paediatrician at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Prof. Olanrewaju Adedoyin, has raised the alarm that there are less than 20 known paediatric nephrologists in Nigeria. The country has  a population of over 160 million people.

He said the few doctors take

care of the numerous cases of  chronic kidney diseases in children in the country.

Adedoyin, who is also a lecturer at the Department of  Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences,  of UNILORIN,  spoke on Monday while delivering the institution’s 109th inaugural lecture titled, “Chronic kidney diseases in children: the myths, the politics and the facts.”

He  said he was aware of only six paediatric nephrologists in the entire North Central geo-political zone of the country, three of whom, he said were trained by him.

He also stated that there were few paediatric renal nurses, adding that in some institutions, they were not even allowed to practise strictly paediatric renal nursing.

According to Adedoyin, CKD is  a non-communicable disease. He, however, stated that no cure had been found for some CKDs.

He said, nonetheless, there were drugs to mitigate the effect of the disease. He hoped that with more researches, there was a possibility of a breakthrough for the cure.

Adedoyin said there should be a major overhaul of  the nation’s health system to reflect a shared burden of CKD between the patient and the government.

He added that alternatively, the National Health Insurance Scheme should include chronic illnesses like CKD in its care plan instead of concentrating  only on infectious diseases.

Adedoyin suggested that the partly removed petroleum subsidy should be reinvested into the NHIS fund to enable it  to capture children with chronic illnesses.  He argued that Nigeria is supposed to provide for the good health of every child according to the Child’s Right Act.

The consultant also recommended that renal replacement therapy for children with CKD should be free or heavily subsidised as most Nigerians cannot afford it.

He advised against the use of soap and cream containing mercury, adding that pre-school medical screening, including renal ultrasonography and urinalysis should be taken seriously for children.  He warned that it should not be corrupted.

Adedoyin said that there should be a shift in emphasis from equipment/facilities for just malaria, ARI and diarrhoea, saying that the country had consolidated on that over the years.

 If the kidney of the child is well protected, then the adult kidney is safeguarded and by extension, the heart is also protected.

“Any investment in child health is the right and the best investment because the society will be the best for it,” he said.

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