{"id":122577,"date":"2026-04-27T14:47:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera"},"modified":"2026-04-27T15:11:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T15:11:56","slug":"herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera","title":{"rendered":"Herbal Medicine Linked to Rising Kidney Cases in Burera"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Butaro Level Two Teaching Hospital has reported a worrying increase in kidney-related complications among residents of Burera District, partly attributing the trend to the use of traditional herbal medicines.<\/p>\n<p>A screening for chronic kidney disease (CKD) conducted among patients with diabetes and hypertension across all health centres in Burera found that 37 per cent showed signs of kidney damage, meaning their kidneys were not functioning properly or effectively filtering blood.<\/p>\n<p>Preliminary data from 13 health centres indicate that out of 2,350 people screened, 866, representing 37 per cent were diagnosed with CKD at stages 3 and 4.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a significant number,\u201d said Dr Etienne Ntabanganyimana, a senior consultant nephrologist at Partners In Health, which collaborated with the hospital during the screening.<\/p>\n<p>Those screened were aged between 35 and 100 and were already enrolled in non-communicable disease (NCD) clinics at their respective health centres. No cases of stage 5 CKD, also known as end-stage renal disease (ESRD), were identified.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Ntabanganyimana noted that among the 866 diagnosed cases, 36 patients were in stage 4, requiring close monitoring to slow progression to end-stage disease and preparation for renal replacement therapies such as haemodialysis or kidney transplantation.<\/p>\n<p>Several factors are contributing to CKD in Burera, one of the country\u2019s remote border districts\u2014including the unregulated use of traditional herbal medicines and excessive consumption of illicit alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTraditional herbal remedies are not good for our health as their composition and dosage are unknown,\u201d Dr Ntabanganyimana told The New Times. \u201cThey can worsen kidney damage, especially in patients with diabetes and hypertension. People should avoid using them, as they increase the risk of developing CKD.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that many residents in rural areas often visit traditional healers before seeking medical care, which can delay proper treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese substances can cause severe kidney injury which, if not properly managed, may progress to chronic kidney disease,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n<p>He advised limiting alcohol intake, drinking sufficient water, managing diabetes and hypertension, reducing salt consumption, and engaging in regular physical activity to help prevent kidney disease.<\/p>\n<p>The Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) also reports a rise in kidney disease cases nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a growing burden, but it is also preventable,\u201d said Dr Jean Claude Habineza from the Non-Communicable Diseases Division at RBC. \u201cThe number of people suffering from kidney diseases seen in hospitals worldwide\u2014including in Rwanda\u2014is increasing. If you look at hospital data, the trend is clearly rising.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He emphasised that avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, quitting smoking, and limiting the use of painkillers are key measures to reduce the risk of CKD.<\/p>\n<p>Agnes Uwamariya, 47, a resident of Burera, welcomed the screening initiative and called for its expansion to reach more people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was among the first to participate in the screening for diabetes and blood pressure,\u201d she said. \u201cThese programmes are very important, especially for people in rural areas where many rely on herbal remedies instead of seeking medical treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Rwanda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. Butaro Level Two Teaching Hospital has reported a worrying increase in kidney-related complications among residents of Burera District, partly attributing the trend to the use of traditional herbal medicines. A screening for chronic kidney disease (CKD) conducted among patients with diabetes and hypertension across all health centres in Burera found that 37 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":122576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[9684,7651,9685,5389,758],"class_list":["post-122577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-burera-district","tag-butaro-hospital","tag-ckd","tag-ncds","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Herbal Medicine Linked to Rising Kidney Cases in Burera - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Butaro Level Two Teaching Hospital has reported a worrying increase in kidney-related complications among residents of B ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Herbal Medicine Linked to Rising Kidney Cases in Burera\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Butaro Level Two Teaching Hospital has reported a worrying increase in kidney-related complications among residents of B ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-27T14:47:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-27T15:11:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/04\/sm_1777289974.452423.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Herbal Medicine Linked to Rising Kidney Cases in Burera\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-27T14:47:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-27T15:11:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera\"},\"wordCount\":493,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/04\/sm_1777289974.452423.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"BURERA DISTRICT\",\"Butaro Hospital\",\"CKD\",\"NCDs\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/herbal-medicine-linked-to-rising-kidney-cases-in-burera\",\"name\":\"Herbal Medicine Linked to Rising Kidney Cases in Burera - 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