By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Feb. 13: Starting February 17, denizens of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) will get urine tests done for free.
They only have to visit community urban health clinics run by the government in their respective wards for urine tests.
The service will be provided at all wards of KMC, as a part of the ‘Save the Kidney’ Campaign.
To conduct this programme, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between KMC Mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya and Dr. Rishi Kumar Kafle, chairperson of the ‘Save the Kidney’ campaign on December 14, last year.
The objective of this campaign is to ensure that the kidneys of the city dwellers are healthy and if any problem is detected in their kidney, they should be treated in time to prevent further deterioration, said the campaigners.
“Kidney is an important organ of the human body. Initially there are generally no symptoms and this is the reason why treatment is not timely, leading to kidney failure,” said Dr. Kafle.
Cases of kidney disease are on the rise in Nepal. Since its treatment as well as transplantation is expensive, not many people can afford it, he added.
Considering this fact, KMC and the campaigners of the Save the Kidney Campaign have jointly conducted a free urine test programme under the Healthy Kidney Healthy Kathmandu Programme from the community urban health clinics in each ward of the metropolis.
“A urine test can tell if your kidneys are healthy or not. If protein (albumin) is found in the urine, it is considered that there is kidney disease,” said Dr. Kafle.
As per the campaigners, this programme will be available for all city dwellers. The campaign aims to serve 50,000 people from mid-February to mid-August this year.
Free urine tests will not be performed on individuals with pre-existing kidney problems. Only people who are healthy will have their urine tested, they informed.
According to them, if a kidney problem is found during a urine test, then the urine sample will be sent for further examination at the Save the Kidney Campaign Laboratory at the National Kidney Treatment Center in Banasthali.
If protein is found again there, then the patient will get a free check-up from a nephrologist at a hospital approved to treat Acute Kidney Injury, in accordance with the Poor Citizens Medicine Fund Directive.
Bir Hospital, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Patan Hospital, Sumeru Hospital, Sahid Dharma Bhakta National Transplant Center and Kanti Child Hospital are health institutions approved to treat Acute Kidney Injury, KMC informed.