Muhimbili to perform kidney transplants without relying on external expertise

Dar es Salaam. Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) on Thursday, March 12, 2020, announced that with effect from April , its locally trained specialists will be performing kidney transplants, saying the hospital will no longer rely on external expertise to conduct the procedure.

To achieve this, the national hospital has already sent selected medical specialists to various countries such as South Africa, Norway and India to undertake comprehensive training on how to perform kidney transplants.

Since  MNH launched kidney transplant services in 2017, a total of 56 procedures have been performed by the hospital's specialists in collaboration with foreign doctors from Europe and Asia.

MNH's Executive Director Prof Lawrence Museru has assured that the hospital was determined to offer quality specialized kidney treatment in compliance with the International health guidelines and standards.

"Some 14 kidney specialists have been trained in South Africa, India and Norway on how to perform kidney transplant, " said the MNH's boss on Thursday.

The World Kidney Day is a global health awareness campaign observed on March 12 every year. This day aims at highlighting the importance of healthy kidneys for overall health. It also tries to spread information about different kidney diseases and how to prevent them.

The MNH's symposium was attended by religious leaders and hospital's doctors and nurses and members of the Nephrology Society of Tanzania (NESOT).

Furthermore, Prof Museru revealed that the government has managed to save a total of Sh5 billion ever since the hospital started performing  the rare procedure locally since the launching of the services at MNH.

"Only Sh1.1 billion has been spent for treating kidney patients locally, but the government could have incurred a cost amount to Sh6 billion if the patients were transferred to abroad for the similar procedures, " revealed Prof Museru.