Hope as experts research solutions to kidney disease in Yobe

There are indications of hope in Gashua town, Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State, as a team of medical experts and scientists embark on research to trace the root causes of the high burden of chronic kidney diseases   in Yobe State, as well as developing lasting solutions for the affected communities. For over a […]

There are indications of hope in Gashua town, Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State, as a team of medical experts and scientists embark on research to trace the root causes of the high burden of chronic kidney diseases   in Yobe State, as well as developing lasting solutions for the affected communities.

For over a decade, the residents of the emirate have endured pains and tragedy, with at least 15 people dying every month while 150 people die annually due to renal failure.

The disease, which affects them irrespective of age, sex or status, killed breadwinners of many families in the community and nearby villages leaving the families in poverty.

Usman Umar Dagona, a winner of the National Chemistry Competition 2019, told Daily Trust that chronic kidney disease (CKD) has killed six of his siblings, and prevented his opportunity to study in Russia.

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He said, ‘‘There is no family that has not been affected by this kidney disease. It has killed lots of people in this community. I do not pray or wish anybody, even my enemy, to experience such incidents that happened to me.

‘‘Renal failure has affected me deeply because I lost six of my family members, the same mother and father,  including my father within a time frame of less than two years . Most of them had undergone dialysis in Aminu Kano and Yobe State teaching hospitals before they passed away’’, he said.

He narrated that ‘during the two years, he was able to get a scholarship to study petrochemical engineering , “but I could not leave my family, because I’m the eldest son to my parents, so If I leave nobody could take care of them that’s why I rejected the admission.

‘‘When I heard that  the researchers were coming to the town, sponsored by the state government to do research and to uncover the truth about the root causes of renal failure in my community, I was  very excited hoping that a proper solution will be provided’’,  said Dagona.

The council chairman of Bade Local government, Ibrahim Babagana Yurema, said he lost six family members to chronic kidney disease despite undergoing dialysis.

He said Bade LGA is suffering from the tragedy of chronic kidney disease leading to deaths in the community, adding that the research to uncover the causes is crucial for developing effective prevention and treatment strategies.

‘‘Gashua is suffering from this serious problem, in my family we have lost about six members, all of them are my blood relations. So this menace has affected me and my family members.

‘‘All of them died after undergoing dialysis treatment at the teaching hospital before they lost their lives, so virtually most of the residents of Bade Emirate, especially Gashua town have lost their loved one to this tragedy of kidney’’ He said.

‘‘This town (Gashua) and its environs have been battling with this prolonged problem of kidney disease for long. But by having these researchers we have hope that the root cause of this devastating disease will be identified and eliminated.

‘‘We must thank the Executive governor of Yobe state, His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni, for sponsoring this research, indeed he is a leader who cares for his people’,’ he added.

The Emir of Bade Emirate, His Royal Highness Mai Abubakar Umar Suleiman, said kidney failure has been a persistent issue in the region for over a decade, causing numerous deaths daily.

According to the Emir, of every 100 patients who visit the hospital, at least 5 to 10 of them are diagnosed with conditions related to kidney disease.

He expressed hope that the research will provide long-lasting solutions to the persistent kidney disease challenges in his emirate.

‘‘We are optimistic that these medical teams sponsored by Governor Mai Mala Buni will do their best to prevent the spread and treatment of this deadly disease. The findings from this comprehensive study will provide relief and hope to the affected families, “he added.

The Chief Medical Director of Yobe State University Teaching Hospital, Damaturu, Dr. Baba Waru Goni, said monthly the hospital is doing more than 600 free sessions of dialysis.

‘‘Monthly, we do more than 600 sessions for dialysis. All of them are free, when we say session we’re not talking about several patients, because one patient can have two or three sessions in a week.

‘‘More than half of these patients come from this emirate, last year, we surveyed all the human dialysis centres in Yobe, Borno and Jigawa State, and we identified hotspots from where these patients come from. We found that most of them are coming from Bade and Jakusko local government areas of Yobe State’’, he added.

The Principal Investigator of the Project, Dr Mahmoud Bukar Maina, said the research team comprises; experts in neurology consultancy, lab scientists, geologists, chemists and eco-toxicologists as well as many international collaborators in the United Kingdom, US & Ghana.

Dr Maina, who was a Director of the Biomedical Science Research and Training Centre (BioRTC) of Yobe State University, said over 2,000 blood and urine samples and 500 environmental samples, including soil, water, fish and vegetables, were collected in Bade and Damaturu local government areas.

‘‘This is a special intervention project funded by the Yobe State government under the leadership of Governor Mai Mala Buni. The general idea around it is the fact that we know over a decade now, there are rising cases of kidney disease, especially in the Bade Emirate.

‘‘Two years ago, His Excellency visited the United Kingdom during which we had a meeting with some of the world’s top scientists working in this area (renal failure) following which the governor now advised me to lead a team that would work both with local and international scientists to understand the root cause of this problem.

‘‘To the best of my knowledge, this is the largest state-funded investigation on a single health issue that I have come across in Africa. Most health challenges are funded by International organisations. I have never come across a single health challenge that’s fully funded by a state government of this magnitude.

‘‘Obviously, there are many different hypotheses as to the cause of this problem, so I advised the governor that to arrest this situation we have to take a scientific approach.

‘‘When you’re taking a scientific approach, you have to come with an open mind and as a result of that, we have the environmental angle to their problem, human angle as well as lifestyles.

‘‘So, in the environment, we have collected soil, water, fish, vegetables and other food items samples. We are not saying they are the cause of this problem but we are collecting them to analyse them to understand if there is anything that could be increasing the risk in this population.

‘‘In terms of the human angle, we have collected blood and urine samples alongside a questionnaire that asked about the lifestyles of the participants. We are going to conduct high-level analysis including genetics to understand if causation is linked to genetic background, lifestyles, or the environment itself.

‘‘So far, we have taken 1,300 samples in Gashua because it has the highest number of patients with this disease based on our published work and reports we have taken 1000 samples in Damaturu, which we consider a low-risk population or you could even perhaps say something under control so that at the end we are going to analyze it.”

He said the analysis would help the researchers to pick whether there is something specific in Gashua that is causing it, and why it is not a major problem for people in Damaturu.

“ It’s only through this that we can now fully understand the risk factors and potential causation of this problem’,’ he stated.

The Secretary to the Yobe State government, Baba Malam Wali revealed that the Yobe State government is paying N360,000,000 annually for free dialysis to patients living with kidney disease in the state.

He said Governor Mai Mala Buni is worried about rising cases of kidney failure in the state, especially in Bade, noting that the governor has earlier led a delegation to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and other institutions in England mainly to initiate the research project.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), chronic kidney disease, also called chronic kidney failure, describes the gradual loss of kidney function. The kidneys filter waste and excess fluids from the blood, which is then excreted in the urine. When chronic kidney disease reaches an advanced stage, dangerous levels of fluid, electrolytes and wastes can build up in the body.

The signs and symptoms of chronic kidney disease develop over time and kidney damage progresses slowly, and  may include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue and weakness, sleep problems, changes in urine output, decreased mental sharpness, muscle twitches and cramps, swelling of feet and ankle and high blood pressure.