Renal unit set to open

George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
The new renal unit at Masvingo General Hospital is expected to open its doors in the second week of November, bringing relief to thousands of patients battling to access dialysis services in the province.

Work on the renal unit at the province’s biggest referral institution had stalled after the dialysis machine was stripped of key components in mysterious circumstances earlier this year. The components were eventually recovered paving the way for the assembling of the dialysis machine secured from China under a government-to-government agreement. Masvingo provincial medical director Dr Amadeous Shamu confirmed the opening of the renal unit next month.

“Everything is now in place for the opening of the province’s first-ever renal unit at a public hospital and by the second week of November the unit’s doors will be opened to the first group of patients.

“We have already sent nursing staff who will man the renal unit for training at Harare Hospital and they will be completing their training soon paving the way for opening of the renal unit at Masvingo General Hospital,” he said. Workers have already completed the upgrading of the infrastructure to house the renal unit. The Masvingo General Hospital renal unit will bring relief to kidney patients in the province most of whom were being forced to travel to Harare and Bulawayo for cheaper dialysis services at State-run hospitals.

The province currently has one renal unit at the privately-owned Makurira Memorial Hospital whose charges cannot be afforded by the ordinary people. A dialysis session at Makurira Memorial costs about $140. Government-run hospitals charge an average of US$40 per single dialysis session. Masvingo provincial hospital medical superintendent Dr Julius Chirengwa recently said the soon to be opened renal unit would cater for two patients per dialysis session. There was an outcry in the province over the delays in establishing the renal unit when the dialysis machines were lying idle since last year. A renal unit is a critical component of any major hospital and assists patients with kidney failure to remove toxic substances.