Climate change leads to rise in kidney patients

The risk of developing kidney disease is increasing globally due to the detrimental effects of rising temperatures caused by climate change, said experts yesterday.

In this regard, Bangladesh ranks 10th among the world's most vulnerable countries, they mentioned.

They said this at a seminar jointly organised by Gonoshasthaya Samaj Vittik Medical College and Gonoshasthaya Dialysis Center at Gonoshasthaya Kendra in Savar.

In the meeting, Chief Nephrologist of Gonoshasthaya Dialysis Center Brig Gen (retd) Prof Mamun Mustafi presented the article titled "Climate Change and Kidney".

To know how kidney disease is connected with climate change, he said, a group of doctors from Brazil and Australia conducted a survey in all hospitals of Brazil's 1,816 cities from 2015 to 2020.

They recorded how many kidney patients were admitted in the five years due to excessive heat caused by climate change. In the survey, they found around 27 lakh people were hospitalised with kidney problems due to the heat, about 0.9 percent of the country's population.

Accordingly, this result can be used to infer the situation in Bangladesh, Mamun said.

He explained that due to heat, our body can face various issues. Among them, the biggest one is heat stroke, which can cause kidney failure. In this case, the most vulnerable are children, elderly, and those who are already suffering from various diseases.

Prof Ayub Ali Chowdhury, who is a kidney expert, presented the article, titled "War and Kidney", at the seminar.

He said disasters and wars are injuring people and increasing mental stress, which indirectly leads to people suffering from kidney disease.

Dr Manjur Kadir Ahmed, coordinator of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, presided over the programme, in which Prof Altafunnesa Maya, president of Gonoshasthaya Kendra Trust, was chief guest. Besides, Md Abul Hossain, acting vice chancellor of Gono Bishwabidyalay, was present as a special guest.