15th March, 2018
The State House Medical Centre(SHMC), Abuja on Thursday provided free kidney tests for 710 Nigerians as part of the activities to mark the 2018 World Kidney Day.
The Permanent Secretary of the State House, Mr Jalal Arabi, told the State House Correspondents that the free screening exercise was “worthwhile”.
He said that the event was used to do an appraisal of the medical centre ‘s contribution to the larger society.
He explained that the exercise ran for two weeks because the centre did not expect a large number of people that turned up for screening.
“We expected about 200 Nigerians but in the end we had no fewer than 710, which was quite impressive.
“I think the essence of it was much more of a humanitarian gesture.
“And we wanted to give back to the public and want Nigerians who are able to present themselves to be screened to know their status and then decide on the way forward.’’
Arabi said he was proud to be associated with the initiative, adding that he was quite impressed with the screening done by his men.
“I think they gave in their best and people who came to be screened were happy; thy knew where they stood and I feel that going forward, I will encourage Nigerians to always latch onto this kind of opportunity.
“If there are opportunities and windows for you to go in, get yourself tested, know your health status and where you stand,’’ he advised.
He explained that the exercise was not injurious and did not take away anything from the individuals that went through the process.
He promised that the centre would make the screening an annual event, hoping that by 2019, the centre would be expanded to the extent that the tables could accommodate more people at a time.
Arabi urged Nigerians to be quite proactive in kidney screenings because the attack did not usually come with visible and identifiable symptoms.
“It is something hidden in there and you have to make yourself available to be tested on glaucoma, blood sugar and others so that if you address the challenges on time you will live healthily,’’ he said.
The centre carried our series of tests to determine if the patients had conditions that could predispose them to kidney ailments.
The event was climaxed by a public lecture at the State House Auditorium delivered by Dr Victoria Ogula-Akogwu, a consultant physician/ nephrologist at the centre, who narrated the journey so far in the management of kidney patients in the Renal Unit of the SHMC.
Dr Salihu Kwaifa, the Consultant Physician/Nephrologist at Wuse District Hospital, Abuja took the participants through the role of non-nephrologists in the management of chronic kidney diseases.