Located in Benfica, Luanda, the center wants to return comfort and dignity to patients, through the quality and modernity of the facilities, equipment and service. "Giving that comfort and a pleasant temperature helps in the patient's quality of life and in his psychological state", stressed nurse Carla d'Oliveira, project coordinator, to the Government portal.
The responsible will lead a team composed of 65 nursing technicians, 15 nurses, four nephrologists and 11 residents, an equal number of vigilantes, five psychologists and the same number of clinical secretaries, a social worker, three nutritionists and two administrative managers.
This, which is the 13th renal failure treatment unit in the country, will monitor patients in their 30s who face kidney problems. "We are going to work with artificial kidneys, to ensure some normality in the lives of these people, and even keep them alive and active or useful for several years" said Vanda Teixeira, clinical director of the center.
The SOL Center has eight treatment rooms, one of which is isolation, dedicated to patients who have tested positive for covid-19.
Hemodialysis sessions, which last up to four hours and are held three times a week, are divided into three different periods: from 6:00 am to 11:00 am, from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm and from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. The center patients will have an ambulance to assist with trips.
Remember that hemodialysis is a treatment for patients with acute or chronic renal failure. In Angola, it is estimated that there are between 1500 and 1600 people with kidney failure.
However, nurse Carla d'Oliveira admits that these numbers of controlled patients do not represent reality, with the possibility that there are hundreds of individuals with kidney problems who are unaware of their condition. "Kidney failure is a silent disease. It arrives and, sometimes, when we discover it, it is already chronic", she says.
As in other parts of the world, the specialist revealed that, also in Angola, there are more men on dialysis than women. The treatment of these patients is expensive, considering that a patient can spend between 200 and 300 dollars for each session, costs that vary depending on the type of kidney failure.
In this way, both specialists defend the expansion of hemodialysis services in the country, through the creation of more centers.
The coordinator of the SOL center revealed that hemodialysis services in Luanda usually receive patients from the provinces of Uíge, Malanje, Bengo, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul.
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