ZAMBOANGA CITY, Oct. 19 (PIA) -- State physicians from all over the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) province received updates on urinalysis reading and interpretation as a way to prevent or detect renal disease.
Kidney specialists – nephrologists shared their knowledge to physician-participants on maximizing the use of urinalysis for diagnosis and prevention during a two day seminar held today until tomorrow.
“This is our way of sharing our expertise on renal disease prevention and control to our government physicians, specially our community doctors in the ARMM province because they are the front liners, who can immediately detect or diagnose a possible renal problem through urinalysis,” said Dr. Susan Jorge, Adult Nephrology Consultant.
Jorge however clarified that the seminar does not imply that physicians in the ARMM lacked the needed knowledge on how to “interpret” results of urinalysis.
She said the knowledge sharing is their way to reinforce and empower the physicians to be more confident in dealing with renal problems and not just report a urinalysis result as merely a Urinary Tract Infection.
“Our optimum goal for this seminar is to spread advocacy to prevent renal disease. To reduce morbidity and mortality of renal disease,” the lady nephorologist said.
Jorge said, by just merely looking at the urinalysis, a physician can detect early renal dysfunction, “so it is very important that the physician, in the absence of a nephrologists in the area, be confident enough to deal with renal problems.”
She said that by the end of the seminar physician-participants should be able to explain the significance of each component and parameter of the urinalysis; apply general principles and ideas to clinical situations and be able to formulate therapeutic management for specific clinical conditions.
Meanwhile, Dr. Michael Abutazil, Adult Nephrology and Chief of the Renal transplant Unit, Western Mindanao Medical Center (WMMC) said, “We are here extending our hands to our government doctors to help us in the campaign to prevent kidney disease by maximizing the use of a basic tool, which is the urinalysis, for diagnosis and prevention of kidney diseases.”
The seminar on urinalysis was spearheaded by the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) under its Renal Disease Control Program (REDCOP).
REDCOP is an advocacy campaign launched by the NKTI to promote renal health which also includes the reduction of morbidity and mortality of renal disease through education and information campaign..
Official data from the NKTI reveals of 9,716 individuals nationwide with kidney disease as of 2010 record.
For Region 9, record shows of 177 patients with kidney disease, this include patients from the ARMM province. (JPA/PIA9-Zambo City)