By: Veantha Naidoo

The Life Health Care Nursing College hosted a health awareness campaign at the Papwa Sewgolum Golf Course, in Reservoir Hills on Sunday.

The aim of the event was to highlight and discuss the various risk factors that contribute to Kidney disease.

According to statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO), 1.4 million people worldwide are on kidney treatment, which is known as Renal Dialysis.

Many medical professionals, who attended the event, stressed that if the disease is caught early enough then certain precautions can be taken to prevent the disease.

Deena Pillay, a doctor at Westville Hospital, said that early detection can prevent kidney disease from progressing to kidney failure.

“When this happens, sometimes transplant and dialysis are the only options for survival,” said Pillay.

She added that some of the common signs and symptoms of kidney disease include cloudy or reddish urine, needing to urinate more or less often, pain or burning when you urinate and
pain in your back or side.

Shaun Davids, who attended the event said, “Today was very informative, and I wish that more people get exposure to these types of awareness programmes.”

Many individuals stated that the main objective of the event was to educate the public.

Paddy Chettiar, a registered nephrology nurse said, “The aim of the kidney awareness day was to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and reduce the
impact of kidney disease and its risk factors in the community.”