KARACHI, Sept 26: Approximately 140,000 people are suffering from kidney diseases in the country, of them only 40,000 can get dialysis treatment and only 800 avail transplant facility.

It was disclosed by health experts through their presentations at an awareness programme on "A new lease in life in kidney failure," organized by the Nephrology and Transplantation department, Liaquat National Hospital.

Head of the department Dr Iffat Yazdani, consultant Nephrologist, Dr Feheemul Hasan, Dr Altaf Hashmi, Dr Ishrat Saleem, Dr Absar Ali and Dr Aziz Abdullah spoke on this occasion.

Dr Yazdani said the patients who under went kidney transplant were expected to lead more healthy lives as compared to those who just relied on dialysis, adding that the transplant cost was also cheaper than that of the maintenance of hemodialysis.

"The criteria for choosing a (transplant) donor is very stringent and only relatives and spouses (of patients) are preferred. But 50 per cent patients' family members are not willing to donate kidneys."

She clarified that research had proved that the persons who donate one kidney could live happily, participate in normal activities and no disability was feared because of the donation.

Dr Saleem said kidney donors' organizations had been formed in Turkey, Iran and other countries, where different services, including health insurance and children education were offered to the donors, but such bodies did not exist in Pakistan.

Dr Faheem said kidney donations saved many lives and were not forbidden in Islam, while the Organization of Islamic Countries had also backed such donations. "But it is compulsory that the donors should be physically healthy," he added.

He said illegal deals involving kidney sale had increased in Asia, which was not allowed in Islam. He also discussed the management of dialysis and renal transplant cases.

Dr Absar Ali said diabetes patients had a high risk of kidney disease in Pakistan. He advised that clean drinking water should be used in huge quantity and blood pressure should be controlled to prevent kidney diseases. Dr Altaf Hashmi said special precautions should be taken during the kidney surgery. -APP