– A sedentary lifestyle has been blamed for the increase in the number of patients undergoing dialysis for kidney disease at the government-run Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, Dr. Aileen L. Herceda, adult nephrologist and active consultant at the SPMC, said.
During a press conference on Monday, Herceda estimated that around 5,000 to 6,000 patients, mostly 50 to 60 years old, are receiving dialysis weekly, forcing the public hospital’s dialysis center to operate 24/7 just to cater to more indigent patients, including those from the other parts of Mindanao.
She said the increasing number of patients undergoing dialysis has already reached alarming proportions because it is reflective of the unhealthy lifestyle of several people.“The advocacy of our society is to inculcate awareness among individuals who have the risk factors — hypertension, diabetes, kidney stones. These are just prelude to inducing kidney disease which is a lifetime disease,” she said.
She said a five-story kidney center is being constructed at the SPMC that will expand the hospital’s capability in offering services such as peritoneal dialysis, hemodialysis, and kidney transplanting. “With the projected population of those patients with kidney problem, there will be more who will likely be catered with the recent additional separate building of the SPMC,” she said.