Govt. spends Rs.3 billion on renal disease

Chesmal Siriwardhana

COLOMBO: The Government spends Rs. three billion annually to provide treatment to patients who are affected by renal disease out of the total government allocation for medicines of Rs. seven billion, said Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva speaking at the opening ceremony of Nephrology Unit at Girandurukotte district hospital. The unit was constructed at Rs. 16 million and has a laboratory and equipment needed to treat the patients.

There is an increased number of people with renal disease in the areas within Anuradhapura and Girandurukotte. According to the available reports from Girandurukotte hospital, 1,500 persons out of a population of 25,000 families have been affected by renal disease. Although a certain higher concentration of fluoride in the drinking water was cited as the possible reason, a definite cause is yet to be found by the scientists.

At Girandurukotte district hospital, around 250 patients attend to a weekly clinic held by a visiting consultant from Kandy.

Due to poor economic conditions and transport facilities, patients had to face severe hardships to undergo the necessary tests and treatment regimes at Kandy.

The Health Minister said he was happy to inaugurate this new facility for the people of Girandurukotte and that he will soon appoint para-medical staff to the hospital. The Minister said although the Government spends a major portion of the annual allocation for medicine to cure renal disease, the Government was taking more steps to uplift the treatment facilities.

A fully-equipped Nephrology Unit was set up in Kandy while a seven-storied new Kidney unit at the Anuradhapura Hospital and a separate Kidney hospital at Maligawatte, Colombo are being constructed as a part of this programme, according to the Minister.

The Minister said the Ministry was taking action to recruit and train more people to meet the human resource demands in the health sector and to make it self-sufficient by the end of this year.