Woman gets kidney donor, stuck over cash 

30-year-old Irene Nerima is a patient with end-stage kidney disease, meaning the vital body organs are on the verge of losing their functionality permanently.

Kidneys are bean-shaped organs, roughly the size of a fist, located on either side of the body below the rib cage. They purify the blood by removing waste and excess water through urine, according to the National Institute of Health.  

Their failure to function well due to a range of infections can result in what is technically called end-stage renal failure or end-stage renal disease, otherwise a progression to permanent damage.

Patients at that stage such as Ms Nerima require regular dialysis, but a kidney transplant offer most assurances for return to full health.

She presently spends Shs150,000 per dialysis session at Mulago National Referral Hospital, which is a subsidised cost compared to Shs500,000 majority private facilities charge.  

A resident of Kisaasi in Kampala, Ms Nerima told this newspaper that a family member has donated her a kidney, but she lacks the Shs80m required to undergo the procedure at the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

This followed the government announcement that Mulago hospital has halted new kidney transplants, despite conducting a successful index procedure last December, pending institution of an Organ Transplant Council to regulate the exercise as required by law.

“I started dialysis in November, last year, at Mulago hospital. I need to get a kidney transplant,” she told this newspaper, “I have already found a person who is willing to donate the kidney, but there is no money for the transplant.” 

She has asked for support from well-wishers to enable her undergo kidney transplant and have a second chance at life.

Support to Irene Nerima can be channeled through her sister Monica Nasirumbi Mugyenzi on telephone contact 0782936352, or her brother Stephen Wandera Ouma on 0777440252. – Editor