Ailing singer Evelyn Nakabira Lagu has asked the government to look into the possibility of subsidizing treatment for kidney disease at its main health facilities.
The 41 year old artist has been battling kidney failure for over three years and needs dialysis treatment twice a week.
The procedure involves mechanical removal of waste products and excess fluids from the bloodstream, that is usually done by kidneys. It is a pretty expensive process, according to the ‘Ogumanga’ singer.
“Every session I spend about Shs 200k and I have to go twice a week. It takes about four hours,’ Lagu said.
“That’s why I think for things like dialysis, we shouldn’t be paying. We should only be paying for the medicines because they are also very expensive, otherwise it is a lot of pressure. The stress might kill you itself.”
The singer also feels for the hundreds of other renal disease patients like her, who might not be living around Kampala, and aren’t in her financial position to meet such costs.
At the time she started treatment, she says, both the Mulago and Kiruddu hospital units had about 250 kidney patients. By now she estimates around 1000; many of them young children.
“How many can afford this treatment? For me there are people who are helping me out, but not everyone is that lucky.”
Lagu was speaking to the press at her home, where she was visited by the Kampala District Woman MP, Shamim Malende.
Malende said she needed to hear for patients like Lagu, learn about their experiences in government health facilities and take on their concerns with the Government.
