2,000 Edo Residents to Benefit from Free Renal Tests

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city

In order to mitigate the increasing challenges in renal health, not less than 2,000 residents of Edo State would benefit from free renal tests courtesy of the state government.

The Chief Medical Director of the Edo Specialist Hospital (ESH), Professor Ileogben Sunday-Adeoye, disclosed this yesterday when he announced a one-week ceremony called Edo Health Impact Week with the state Governor, Godwin Obaseki, as the special guest of honour.

He said the ceremony was for the entire health space in Edo State to build capacity, improve patients’ care besides raising community awareness and improve community health.

The CMD said: “At the event, we will also have experts come and talk to us about colonic cancer and the reason to treat it early.  Cancer of the colon was thought to be a problem of the Caucasians because of their diets but now we are beginning to have it among our people both the young and aged.

“There is a looming crisis of renal disease in the state but the hospital has made provision subject to the governor’s pronouncement that 2,000 people courtesy of the state government can come to ESH and do a urine test to be able to have an idea of the state of their renal health because kidney disease is such that if you pick it early and you listen to the instructions of your caregivers, it will not deteriorate.”

Sunday-Adeoye said the hospital was also adopting telemedicine to check medical tourism, adding: “We have consultants who are in the Diaspora that have indicated interest to partner us with highly subsidised services to our people.”

Also speaking, the Managing Partner, CIUCI, Mrs. Charity Babatunde, said the state government was already mulling extending the PPP initiative to government hospitals in the state.

She said: “I am aware the government is also considering other public hospitals in the state to benefit from the PPP but the pilot is ESH to see how it can work, to see whether it achieves its objectives and then roll out to other hospitals.”