adminaimed at lowering the cost of dialysis in Zimbabwe.
Haemodialysis in local private institutions costs about US$120 per session.
But Dr Kereke said should his initiative come to fruition, patients would pay not more than US$30 per session.
He was speaking to journalists yesterday during a media tour of his second private hospital project located in Ruwa.
“ I want to say to other investors make money through volumes instead of exorbitant costs,” said Dr Kereke.
“They reach as many people as possible instead of a few affording the high costs.”
Dr Kereke said he was working in partnership with a US-based company called Gambro which specialises in renal products, to make his dream come true.
The new 50-bed hospital, Fortress, said Dr Kereke, would house the first of the 15 low cost renal centres expected to be a respite to renal patients.
He said they had since secured another place in the Avenues area in Harare where the other renal centre would be set up. The renal centre at Fortress will accommodate 10 patients at any given time.
“We have put in place a world class hospital (Rock Foundation Medical Centre) and we have completed a second one to officially open its doors to the public in February so this dialysis project is not just an imagination,” he said.
Renal failure is when one’s kidneys stop functioning and they have to go through an artificial process called haemodialysis to remove toxic body waste including urine and free water from the blood.
If the waste is not removed, the patient swells up and dies a painful death.
Patients with kidney failure are required to undergo at least two four-hour sessions per week. In Government institutions the cost of haemodialysis is US$80 a session. It is estimated that about 1 000 people develop renal problems yearly in Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter