THE number of kidney patients is rising with every passing day. It is indeed alarming that every year 26,000 people die of kidney diseases. Although there has been increased awareness among people on the dangers of kidney ailments and campaigns are being carried out in the country to make people more conscious, the annual mortality rate per 100,000 people from chronic kidney disease in Bangladesh has increased by 52.3 per cent since 1990 at an average rate of 2.3 per cent per year. This simple statistics gives us a measure of severity of kidney diseases in the country. Currently 10 per cent of world population is affected by the disease which can not be ignored any more. Sadly, many kidney patients wait for years to get a kidney transplant while many do not get a donor and die a premature death. Many again die early as they cannot afford the treatment which is very costly and unavailable in the countryside. Only 20 per cent of the patients in the developing countries are fortunate to receive treatment for kidney diseases. One must be health conscious and follow a healthy life style to avoid being affected by kidney ailments.
Iqbal
Shahjahanpur, Dhaka