The original article can be found in: SKN Vibes By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE. St. Kitts – THE official opening ceremony for the first ever Haemodialysis Unit in the Federation of St. Kitts-Nevis was held on Friday morning (Sept. 6) at the Joseph N. France General Hospital in Basseterre.
The mission of this unit is ‘To promote optimum well-being of patients with Acute or Chronic Kidney Disease or End Stage Renal Disease’.
The nephrologist of the unit is Dr. Miriam Rodriguez-Delgado of Cuba and two fully-trained Haemodialysis nurses from the Philippines have been employed and 20 local nurses were trained overseas in Haemodialysis services.
Some of the rooms of the unit, which comprises of four dialysis machines, are the Treatment Room, Water Treatment Plant, Injection Room and the Sluice Room.
Andrew Skerrirr, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, in giving the project overview described the opening of the unit as a “significant milestone for the Ministry of Health”.
He informed that the project is a public/private initiative jointly funded by the government of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Pierrot Medical Group out of Guadeloupe.
He said provisions were made in the budgetary estimates to recruit a vascular surgeon, which was a challenge, and so medical experts from Puerto Rico would be consulted, when need, for the time being.
“We have therefore made arrangements with Hemo Health out of Puerto Rico to utilise the service of their vascular surgeons when needed while we continue efforts to recruit our own.
He revealed that the project began nine years ago with peritoneal dialysis treatment with then plans to expand to haemodialysis.
“The genesis of this great moment can be traced to December 2003 when the Federal Cabinet approved plans to introduce dialysis services in the Federation.”
Skerritt explained that “provisions of these services had become necessary as our epidemiological profile made it clear to us that chronic non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes are amongst the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the Federation and both are key risk factors for kidney disease”.
He continued: “Evidently, it had become apparent that chronic kidney disease or end stage renal disease (ESRD) also contributed significantly to the morbidity and mortality data in St. Kitts and Nevis, and the stark reality is that kidney disease affected the young and the old.”
Dr. Jean-Marc Pierrot of Pierrot Medical Group shared that the unit has been “completely refurbished to meet North American and European standard in terms of performance, efficiency and quality of care”.
Minister of Health the Hon. Marcella Liburd saw the official opening as a “history making event”.
She said that the opening was appropriately a part of the 30th Independence Anniversary celebrations during the nation’s Health, Sports and Fitness Week.
Liburd said about 70 percent of deaths in the Federation is attributable to chronic diseases.
“Hypertension, otherwise known as blood pressure, and diabetes are two of the main chronic diseases we have to contend with. Studies have shown that these two diseases areas major causes of kidney failure,” she added.
The Health Minister said the unit is a life-saving addition.
“In this regard, the haemodialysis unit is a welcome and life saving addition for the treatment of kidney diseases for the people of St .Kitts and Nevis.”
Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, speaking also in his capacity a trained medical doctor, remarked that he was “particularly gratified” by this development.
He pointed out that one possible consequence of hypertension and diabetes is kidney disease, noting that “kidney disease is a serious matter indeed”.
PM Douglas highlighted his administration’s designed plan to boost the health care services of the Federation.
“My government decided some 18 years ago both to dramatically expand access to healthcare via the construction and refurbishment of healthcare centres and hospitals as well as to provide a range of never before available healthcare services to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, and I don’t even have to mention the large number of persons who have been trained in the provision of medical care and medical services from as high as those who are consultants to those who are assisting on the wards, as nursing assistants.”
