Chronic Kidney Disease Survivor Abigail Ashley Donates 200 Bedsheets & Pillow Cases To Korle Bu Teaching Hospital

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Health Advocate and host of UTV’s ”My Health My Life” and Okay FM’s ‘Mo Ho Ye’, Abigail Ashley, who’s been battling with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) since 2007, has donated 200 pieces of bedsheets and pillows cases to both the Renal Unit and Medical Ward 1 at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

The donation was made through her foundation “Behind My Smiles” on World Kidney Day.

“The Bedsheets is just one of the problems, the major one is government intervention to make dialysis as management of Chronic Kidney Disease available, affordable, and accessible to all Chronic Kidney patients,” she stated.

“Korle Bu has been more like a second home in the last 15yrs, even when I thought it had all ended in December 2019, after the transplant, but No I still go to Korle Bu. Chronic Kidney Disease is not a child’s play. Let’s all get educated, encourage regular checkups and adopt the healthy lifestyle approach that’s the only way to protect the kidneys,” she added.

Abigail Ashley further said “I don’t do it because I have no tears but my greatest trophy is the tears I wipe away from people’s faces”.

About Chronic Kidney Disease

One (1) out of 10 adult people worldwide have Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and if left untreated it can be deadly.

While early detection allows for disease care and management to help prevent morbidity and mortality, and improve cost effectiveness and sustainability, kidney disease related mortality continues to increase yearly and is projected to be the 5th leading cause of death by 2040.

A persistent and ongoing CKD knowledge gap exists, one that is demonstrable at all levels of healthcare:

* The community – Obstacles to better kidney health understanding include the complex nature of kidney disease information, low baseline awareness, limited health literacy, limited availability of CKD information, and lack of readiness to learn.

* The healthcare worker – Another barrier to overcome in order to ensure greater awareness of CKD is a more focused education of physicians as they are in charge of the patients’ medical condition.

* The public health policy makers – Finally, CKD is a global public health threat but is typically low on government health agendas with political commitments on non-communicable disease programs concentrating predominantly on four main diseases – cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease.

This knowledge gap is stifling the fight against kidney disease and increasing the mortality rate.

The WKD Joint Steering Committee is calling for everyone worldwide to not only be aware of the disease but to actively know what their own kidney health measures are.

The general public is also encouraged to adopt healthy diet and lifestyles (access to clean water, exercise, healthy diet, tobacco control, and climate change prevention) to maintain good kidney health, preserve kidney function longer in those with CKD and increase overall general awareness of the importance of kidneys.

BY: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana