Dialysis continues undisturbed at Harare Haemodialysis Centre

Dialysis continues undisturbed at Harare Haemodialysis Centre, even when power goes

Every day at least 28 patients with chronic or acute kidney failure visit the Harare Haemodialysis Centre, in Cork Road, Belgravia, where they receive the dialysis treatment essential for their survival in a relaxed and comfortable environment.

With automatic Novo beds, two generators for power failure back-up, water reservoirs and a water treatment plant, the centre provides pleasant surroundings with high standards of uninterrupted haemodialysis service. Patients have access to Wi-Fi internet whilst receiving treatment. The centre was established in 1999 as a joint venture between Cimas Medical Aid Society and Gambro-Sweden, at a time when haemodialysis had ceased to be available in Zimbabwe, as dialysis machines in government hospitals, which were the only places that had them, had stopped functioning.

Haemodialysis is a method of cleansing the blood of toxins, extra salts and extra fluids that build up in the blood when the kidneys are no longer able to function properly. It does this by diverting blood through a dialysis machine, oftenreferred to as an artificial kidney. It maintains a proper chemical balance in the blood of potassium, sodium and chloride and keeps blood pressure under control.

The Harare Haemodialysis Centre specialises in renal care, through haemodialysis, with most patients dialysing two to three times a week, depending on the severity of their condition. The Harare Haemodialysis Centrehas 15 dialysis machines in regular use. Three more are kept on standby. Each machine generally does two sessions per dayenabling the centre to accommodate at least 30 patients per day. It has the capacity to accommodate as many as 60 patients, if need be, by allocating four patients per machine per day.

The Gambro AK96 Bio Version dialysis machine, which the clinic uses, is one of the best haemodialysis machines on the market. However, the centre is considering upgrading to the recently launched AK98.

A consultant nephrologist takes care of patients when they are admitted to the centre for dialysis. The dialysis is done by qualified nurses, who carry out instructions from the nephrologist.

Harare Haemodialysis Centre clinic manager MysticaRuzengwe says the centre has standby facilities to ensure it has a continuous supply of electricity and water, so that a patient's treatment is not disturbed by electricity load shedding or disconnections of municipal water supplies.

"Dialysis is premised on the technical bit of medical appliances, which has a lot to do with the dialysis monitor, water treatment plant, water itself and electricity.

"The centre was therefore built in such a way that once the patient is connected on a machine nothing should interrupt the session except a doctor's order. By this I mean things like power cuts, water pressure and availability of water itself. Cimas made sure that the centre hasback-ups so that no one goes home without receiving treatment.

"For water we have municipality water, a prolific borehole on site, a swimming pool, which is a water reservoir, and 5000 litre tanks.

"For electricity we have the normal mains electricity, an 85kv generator and a back-up generator," said Mrs Ruzengwe.

She said the centre was the only haemodialysis centre in the country that had a WTO100H Gambro water treatment plant. The plant has the capacity to supply water to 24 machines at one time.