arriving in the airport La Aurora today in Guatemala City, I was greeted by the sign you see above, and then a long hall of faces of different Guatemalans. it was very moving.
On the trip down I read (some light reading!) "Nephrology in Guatemala, a lived history" by my friend and colleague here, Dr. Randall Lou Media, a pediatric nephrologist. We collaborate here, in trying to prevent kidney failure (our team does surgeries that help fix urinary tract problems that can lead to permanent kidney damage. ) Why is it so important here? the following facts might see dry, or just numbers, but think about them as if you lived in Guatemala and your child had kidney problems. Here are some statistics that he cites in his book:
1)There is one nephrologist for every 700,000 people (adults and children) in Guatemala. this is the worst ratio in all of Central America. (in 2009, 20 were part of the Guatemalan Association of Nephrology.
2)only 35% of Guatemalans diagnosed today with end stage kidney disease get diagnosed and treated (that means that the rest die)
3)Hemodialysis in Guatemala was first made free to the public (prior to that one had to pay) in 2009. prior to that, if you had kidney failure and no money, you had a death sentence.
4) At MOST, only 20% of the population of Guatemala is covered by employer paid insurance (social security). the rest either pay for everything themselves, or have the public health system as their option. 5) the private insurance only covers dependent children until the age of 5. after that, if your child has kidney disease, again you must pay yourself or use the public hospital.
6) there was NO non-private clinic for children with kidney disease in Guatemala until Dr. Lou founded his foundation clinic in 2002.
7) there was NO dialysis for children in Guatemala prior to 2007. that year they did 30 treatments/month. now it is 125/month.
8) renal transplants for children without insurance began in 2008 and between 2008-2011, 21 transplants were performed.
9) The FIRST pediatric nephrology fellows to ever be trained IN Guatemala were trained by Dr. Lou and colleagues and the first class graduated in 2009!
10) many cases of kidney failure in children in Guatemala are completely preventable, either by treatment of infections or surgery to repair abnormalities. the problem is Access to care and education of primary care providers on early recognition of problems.
WHEW! well that was a lot, but if you are still reading, maybe it gives some background as to why pediatric urology surgeries are so important and why I keep coming back to help out.
More SOON! our initial consultations will happen Sunday...
thanks for reading!
Maria
I have not read any of your blog other than this entry, but I wanted to comment and see if you might have any information!
ReplyDeleteI have come across a family who's daughter (1 1/2 years old)seems to have some level of kidney failure along with abdominal pain and will only take milk from a syringe.
I'm not a doctor, but my older son was born with kidney failure due to posterior urethral valves and has had MANY surgeries, years on dialysis, gtube feeds and finally a kidney transplant when he was 5. Just reading about this family really made me feel that I had to offer some sort of information!
They are in Guatemala and I have NO IDEA what might be available to them.
I'm going to Google the doctor you mention in this entry, but if you have any suggestions please email me! shellyd@bryanskidneypage.org
Also, thank you for helping out with these kids!!! As a parent, I know how lucky we are to live in the US where decent acute care can be accessed even without money or insurance.