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Saving Young Lives project funds practical course in Cape Town on PD for AKI

A group of 13 doctors and nurses from various countries in Africa have just returned from Cape Town after attending a surgical skills course on peritoneal dialysis (PD).

Last year, the Saving Young Lives (SYL) project funded the same course which was restricted to doctors. This year, doctors and nurses could attend in tandem, which reinforced team spirit and cooperation.

The training mixed both theory and practice and focused on various objectives for the trainees to acquire a hand-on experience in PD catheter insertion techniques and performing acute PD fluid exchanges. Participants learned how to perform acute PD in an African setting by improvising available resources. Practice, discussions and interaction were the strengths of the training most valued by the participants.

Herman Ayesiga from the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Tanzania said: “the course was compiled with a lot of good useful information to learn in one week, we tried to catch up with the latest techniques.”

The SYL project works in low-resource health settings, to help establish and maintain hospital centers for care of AKI including facilities for acute PD. The project will  also focus on training and education in the community to improve awareness and equip local health practitioners for prevention and help them identify cases needing hospital care.

The KCMC in Moshi is a SYL supported site. About the SYL project, Mr Ayesiga continued: “Some institutions may not have significant data on the prevalence for the acute stage of renal diseases due to lack of awareness,leading to a late referrals in chronic state. Creating awareness in terms of knowledge on management and diagnostic facilities is important.” The ability to diagnose and manage acute kidney injuries will reduce the prevalence of chronic kidney disease and associated mortality.

More about this project, CLICK HERE. You can also see more photos from the training course on the ISN Facebook page.

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