KARACHI, Feb 23: As the kidney transplant has always been a high cost bearing affair, there is need for initiatives which can either slow down the process or subside the factors responsible for end-stage renal disease, said experts in nephrology here on Thursday.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the 7th biennial symposium of The Kidney Foundation (TKF), investigators and practitioners in kidney diseases noted that creation of more awareness and community-based approach would ensure timely identification and treatment of diseases contributing to the malfunctioning of kidneys in human bodies.

The symposium on “Frontiers in Nephrology” which is attended by experts from USA, India, Bangladesh, UK and other countries will continue till Feb 26.

Speaking as chief guest at the opening ceremony of the symposium, the vice-chancellor of the University of Karachi, Dr Pirzada Qasim, said that all the countries of the world, particularly the developing ones, should pool resources available with them in the shape of expertise, finances and infrastructure for more research and solutions leading to the prevention and cost effective treatment of kidney diseases.

It is high time that countries and their individuals should come up with the commitment to save the humanity by ensuring sound healthcare and education system for the entire global population, he said.

Dr Pirzada hoped that the deliberations and interactions of senior and young scientists and doctors would surely bring about new technologies for diagnosing kidney diseases and new treatments with greater degree of success.

The vice-chairman of The Kidney Foundation, Justice (retd) S. A. Sarwana, said that the prevalent situation of healthcare in the third world countries was far from satisfactory.

Per capita income is low and majority of people are living below the poverty line. Thus they are unable to meet the health related expenditures, while on the other hand lack of education and social taboos remained a source of concern, he added.

The secretary of the symposium’s organizing committee and chief executive of the TKF, Prof S.A. Jaffar Naqvi, referred to the data collected by his institution and said that as per the information received from 95 per cent of the dialysis centres in the country, he was now able to say that there were 147 centres and 3,369 patients on haemodialysis in Pakistan, out of which 62 per cent were male and 38 per cent female.

Dr Jan Weening from USA apprised the audience about the role of International Society for Nephrology (ISN) in human resource development.

Allan J. Collins, director of United States Renal Data System said that it was high time to work for publicizing the preventive measures on renal diseases.

Prof M. K. Mani from India made a presentation pertaining to a project run under his leadership for the prevention of chronic renal diseases at community level.

He said that while in India the urban population had got the opportunities to afford or get good health care facilities, population in the rural areas (70 per cent) did not have access to even primary health care facilities as those were either far away from their vicinity or required at least one whole day from individuals most of whom were bread earners.

Talking of his methods, he said that girls having completed school education were engaged as volunteers against payments of Rs1, 000 per month to survey the population of the designated population and identify the patients suffering from diabetes and hypertension, among other diseases, and then after measures for controlling the diseases were taken accordingly.