Muhimbili to perform kidney transplants on six people 

Dar es Salaam. Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), is expecting perform kidney transplants on six patients in July, the hospital has said.

This was said on Friday June 30, by the Specialist in Internal Medicine and Kidney diseases at Muhimbili, Dr. Jonathan Mngumi, while speaking to journalists about the charity run to mobilize financial resources for people with kidney diseases.

According to Dr Mngumi, the national hospital has already performed kidney transplants on 75 people.

"We have discussed this matter with the national hospital executive director, we expect that in July we will do the transplant again, and we have six patients who are waiting for the surgery," he said.

In addition to that, Dr. Mngumi said that the number of people who need dialysis has also increased, and that seven percent of Tanzanians live with kidney disease.

According to him, globally, out of the eight billion people in the world, 800 million, or 10 percent, have kidney diseases.

He said they receive 90 people per week who come to check their kidneys, and five of these usually are at a stage where they are required to start a dialysis treatment, which takes four hours per person.

"Imagine with that time and a person is required to do dialysis three times or at least twice a week. It is a service that costs money and time for patients, and it is a heavy burden for the hospital and the government in general," said Dr. Mngumi.

For his part, the executive director of the national hospital, Professor Mohammed Janabi, said per day they do dialysis treatment for 130 to 150 patients.

"More than 90 percent of people with kidney diseases that are receiving dialysis treatment are at the stage that they must have a kidney transplant," he said, adding that;

Out of the 100 patients, 90 have high blood pressure.