Around 90 per cent of living kidney donors in Jordan are females, 75 per cent of them mothers who donated one kidney to their children, health experts said on Saturday.
Annually around 120 kidney failure patients undergo kidney transplants in the country, according to Mohammad Louzi, a nephrologist at Prince Hamzah Hospital, who noted that efforts should be intensified to encourage organ donation to save more lives.
He attributed the rise in kidney failure cases to chronic diseases that lead to this risky health condition if left untreated.
Louzi made the remarks yesterday at an event organised by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation to mark World Kidney Day observed annually on March 10.
The majority of kidney failure patients die of heart disease due to complications brought on by their health condition, he added.
Figures presented yesterday indicated that some 2,952 kidney failure patients are listed in the National Registry for Kidney Failure that was established in 2009.
According to Mohammad Tarawneh, director of the health ministry’s non-communicable diseases directorate, 16 per cent of these patients are below the age of 35.
He noted that diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure in Jordan, and responsible for 31.9 per cent of the cases, followed by hypertension (23 per cent) and glomurolnephritis (11.4 per cent).
The annual cost for treating kidney failure cases in Jordan reached JD33 million in 2010, according to Tarawneh who noted that 48.6 per cent of the patients live in Amman, followed by Irbid with 17.4 per cent and Zarqa with 14.5 per cent.
Minister of Health Yassin Husban highlighted the importance of preventing chronic diseases that lead to kidney failure.
“There should be strategies in place to prevent chronic diseases and follow up for those who have them,” he said yesterday, adding that the government is committed to treating kidney failure patients, who undergo dialysis free of charge.
By Khetam Malkawi
Jordan Times