DHAKA, 4 August 2005 — Around 20 million people in Bangladesh are suffering from kidney diseases and 40,000 die every year.
Professor Dr. Harun-Ur-Rashid, a top kidney specialist in Bangladesh and chairman of the Department of Nephrology at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) said in Dhaka yesterday that many people in the country were not aware of diabetic, hypertension and kidney-related diseases and as a result kidney-related ailments may take the form of epidemic by 2025.
Regular walk, measures to reduce weight, less consumption of salt are some of the steps that can help check kidney diseases, he said.
Referring to a recent pilot survey conducted by the Kidney Foundation at village Kachulia in Savar and in the Mirpur slum in Dhaka city on 50,000 people, Dr. Harun said 69 percent of the people were not aware that they were suffering from hypertension and diabetes.
Out of the remaining 31 percent, only 6 percent were undergoing treatment, he added. Since the treatment of kidney disease is costly, many patients die every year because they cannot afford it, he said.
