AfricaPress-Tanzania: LIFESTYLE has been cited as a major cause of kidney complications in Dar es Salaam Region that is leading in the country with 1,234 people suffering from the disease.
Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ummy Mwalimu told the National Assembly on Wednesday that the region was leading followed by Arusha that has 563 patients, in comparison to Simiyu that has only 113 and being the lowest.
That was the minister’s response to a question posed by Special Seats MP, Mgeni Jadi Kadika (CUF), while expressing her dismay over the growing rate of kidney patients in the country, and asked the ministry to release the region’s leading with their data.
“Kidney complications are usually part of non-communicable diseases and according to a Community Base Survey that was conducted to assess prevalence of kidney diseases in 2013,’’ she said.
According to the minister, the survey was conducted in the northern zone of Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Tanga and Morogoro, adding that another was carried out in 2015, which involved two regions of Coast and Dar es Salaam found that 44 percent of the complications were caused by diabetes and blood pressure related issues and registered 34 percent.
“Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are caused by lifestyle including excessive drinking, tobacco consumption, consumption of table salt, poor nutrition and lack of exercises, among others,’’ she noted.
However, Ms Mwalimu said that all the indicators were the major cause of blood pressure and diabetes which later on develop to cause kidney complications.
The minister asked all Tanzanians to ensure that they continue with routine physical exercising, which prevent all non-communicable diseases and lead to kidney complications.
