By Chinoyi Chipulu
The Kidney Foundation of Zambia (KFZ) says the extended hours of load shedding has severely impacted dialysis services.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Revelation yesterday, KFZ Secretary Augustine Mukuka said solar power was also impractical for dialysis due to high energy demands and unreliable weather conditions, especially during the rainy season.
Mukuka said the current power situation in Zambia had put immense strain on generators, which were designed for short-term backup, running from two to four hours.
“The situation has not changed and it is not good. It’s official that almost all renal centres are being managed using generators. With frequent outages, generators now run from 15-20 hours daily, far exceeding their intended usage,” he said. “Extended hours of load shedding has severely impacted dialysis services and worse off patients prefer to do dialysis during day time, due to transport challenges coupled with safety during night time, but as you may be aware power is only available during night time and for just a short period.”
Mukuka urged the government to place health centres on critical ZESCO power lines that run day and night without being disrupted.
He said kidney patients who attended public facilities would suffer in the first quarter of 2025, as they would face a lot of challenges due to unreliable supply of power.
“Again we are calling upon the government to be more dedicated to resource allocation to alleviate the number of mortalities experienced in 2024 due to system lapses in the provision of renal services,” said Mukuka. “Within the first quarter of 2025, our patients being attended to in public facilities will face a lot of challenges due to unreliable supply and purchase of renal consumables by both Zambia Medicines and Medical Supply Agency and Ministry of Health.”
