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in those for whom a transplant would be inappropriate.
On average, a patient uses a dialysis machine two to three times a week, which translates to between US$400 and US$600, which is beyond the reach of many patients.
Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals chief executive officer Thomas Zigora said the hospital’s 14 dialysis machines were overloaded and could not have a special reserve for those infected by HIV.
“We are not offering that service here. It’s only available at private hospitals. Here at Parirenyatwa we only have 14 dialysis machines which cater for people who are infected,” Mr Zigora said.
He said the 14 machines were being used by more than 100 patients.
Mr Zigora said apart from the shortages of dialysis machines, the hospital had a serious shortage of nursing staff in the renal unit.
“We don’t have nurses in the renal unit which needs specialised training,” he said, indicating that there were plans to start training renal nurses next year.
Harare Central Hospital consultant Dr Claud Pasi said the hospital was not offering testament for those infected by HIV and Aids as well as those with hepatitis B.
“We are not at the moment offering this facility but if Government avails resources we can then reserve some machines,” Dr Pasi said.
He said although stringent controls were taken with the machines, it was an unacceptable medical risk to allow patients with highly infectious diseases to use the same machines with those who are don’t have infectious diseases.
“However, we use strict infection control measures in dialysis units to avoid cross contamination,” Dr Pasi reiterated.
Most people with hepatitis B and infected with HIV and Aids have accused hospitals of sidelining them.
“We don’t have money and we cannot afford to pay US$400 every week. We want Government to assist us and provide some machines dedicated to us,” said a patient with Hepatitis B.
Another patient living with HIV said: “You only realise what we are talking about once you are infected with the virus, but for now you can ignore us and think that maybe we are crazy people. We are people after all,” said a haemodialysis patient.
Parirenyatwa and Harare Central hospitals have a catchment area of over 2,5 million people and each attends to at least 100 000 patients a year.
Online Reporter