Incidence of kidney failure shows sharp increase

18,697 dialysis cases reported in 2018

ISLAMABAD: The disease of kidney failure is becoming common in Pakistan. As many as 20,000 people die annually due to kidney-related diseases in Pakistan.

Moreover, some 72,294 patients have been treated successfully in the dialysis unit at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) hospital during the past five years.

In January this year alone, 1,850 dialysis procedures were performed in Pims hospital. During the year 2018, the total number of dialysis cases was 18,697, whereas during the year 2017 there were 13,177 cases of dialysis. Around 13,870 people underwent dialysis treatments during the year 2016, and 14,350 people got dialysis treatments in 2015 as well as 1,320 dialysis treatments in 2014.

Furthermore, according to data analysis of the dialysis unit, during the year 2018, some 18,697 dialysis treatments were done in 2018 which makes accumulates to around 1,558 dialysis treatments monthly.



During the year 2018, November saw the highest number of dialysis cases with 2,115 patients reportedly in need of dialysis. 1,826 was the number of dialysis patients in December, 1,912 in October, 1,872 in September, 1,690 in August, 1,400 in July, 1,474 in June, 1,433 in May, 1,367 in April, 1,372 in March, 1,167 in February and 1,071 dialysis cases reported in January.

Pims Dialysis Unit Head Khawar Sultan said that the hemodialysis procedures or kidney cleaning of around 40 to 50 patients was carried out on a daily basis in the hospital. This included up to 30 patients who were admitted in the nephrology ward.

The remaining patients were referred from other wards or came in case of emergency, he added.

Dr Khawar Sultan said that the dialysis unit had now moved to a new hospital building due to the efforts of the head of the Pims, Dr Amjad. He added that the dialysis unit in the new building had been activated by shifting 13 dialysis machines which were previously installed in the old building however 20 new dialysis machines would be installed in the new building in the next two months due to which they would be able to treat more patients on a daily basis.

Dr Sultan said that the machines would be installed on the second floor of the new building while an escalator would be installed to move patients to the second floor.

A tender had been issued for an elevator system, he added.

Dr Sultan further said that the hospital administration had decided to resume the peritoneal dialysis for patients' facilities according to which the patients would not need dialysis machine to clean their kidneys while the kidneys could only be cleaned using a cannula.

He said that no government hospital in the region was providing the facility of peritoneal dialysis.

He added that previously the unit performed dialysis of some 1,200 patients monthly however the dialysis unit in the new building was performing dialysis for 2,000 patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2019.