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Renal failure sufferer told she is 'healthy' News24 LIFE is on hold for a 47-year-old Ezinketheni woman who was diagnosed with renal failure 10 years ago. Last month she was told by a doctor she is no longer eligible to receive a disability grant from the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa).

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According to the GMCH administration, due to some pending work such as electrification and installation of water supply pipeline, the building is still in possession of the Building and Construction (B&C) department at the PWD.

"A meeting in this regard has been organised on Friday with the PWD officials and hopefully the existing dialysis unit at the medicine department will be shifted to the new building soon," said GMCH medical superintendent Suhas Jewlikar.

However, the B&C department assistant engineer S A Wakle said that all pending work has been completed and the GMCH administration needs to make a trial test of their machines to check if things are in place.

Ruing the apathy of government mismanagement some social activists have complained that the lethargic attitude of higher authorities is taking a toll on patients' health.

"It has been over a year that the building has been kept locked. Presently, the GMCH medicine department is taking care of dialysis and other kidney-related disease. After the inauguration of the new building, hopes of patients coming from across Marathwada and other regions suffering from various kidney diseases had been raised. But, to no avail," said social activist Ashok Borde.

He said, "On one hand the government inaugurated the state-of-the-art unit but on the other failed to make it functional. About 30% of the daily number of outdoor patienta (OPD) and surgeries performed at the GMCH constitute kidney-related cases. The medicine department offers dialysis services and treatment to around 150 patients every month. If the required facilities and experts were made available, the hospital would have treated many more patients every month."

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the RUN take:

Gout may predispose patients to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and nephrolithiasis, suggests a new meta-analysis published in Arthritis Research & Therapy. 

Investigators pooled results from 17 epidemiological studies of gout patients. Estimates of CKD (stage 3 and above) and nephrolithiasis among people with gout were 24% and 14%, respectively. 

In addition, gout was linked with more than twice the odds of developing CKD and one and a half times the odds of ever developing nephrolithiasis. Few of the included studies were prospective, so the researchers couldn't assess timing.

According to the researchers, patients with gout should actively be screened for CKD and its related conditions. Currently, just 1 in 5 patients with acute gout are screened for CKD within a month of presentation.

There are several possible mechanisms by which gout could lead to CKD and kidney stones, they noted. Kidney damage may result from hypertension, diabetes, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and endothelial dysfunction from hyperuricemia. Or, persistent inflammation from gout may cause vascular damage. 

Treatment with allopurinol was believed to interfere with kidney function, but a recent systematic review suggested that it actually may protect against CKD progression. 

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WATCH ABOVE: Two Alberta watchdogs have been called in over concerns important documents are being destroyed at the legislature. Tom Vernon explains.

EDMONTON — A joint-investigation is being launched after allegations were made that government documents were improperly destroyed within Alberta’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resources Development.

Jill Clayton, the Information and Privacy Commissioner, and Peter Hourihan, the Public Interest Commissioner, launched the investigation on Wednesday. In recent days Clayton received letters of concern, and on Tuesday Hourihan’s office was tipped off.

“We received an anonymous complaint,” said Hourihan, saying the letter alleged there was improper disposal of records at the ESRD office. Hourihan believes it came from someone who works in the ministry.

Bags full of shredded documents could be seen lining the hallways of the Alberta legislature in the days after last week’s provincial election, in which the governing Tories were ousted from power in favour of a NDP majority.

Last week Clayton issued a reminder to politicians and the public about the rules regarding the shredding of government records. She said it is a criminal offence, finable up to $10,000, to “wilfully destroy records to evade access requests.”

READ MORE: Alberta privacy commissioner explains rules around shredding government papers

When asked about the bags of shredded documents, Clayton said she didn’t know whether the scale of destruction is typical.

“I’m not sure Alberta has been in this situation before,” Clayton admitted, alluding to the first change in governing party in close to 44 years.

The investigation will look into which documents were destroyed, if it was done at the hands of one or more than one person, whether the documents were destroyed in order to evade a FOIP request, and if  any government employees broke the rules during the current transition of government.

Clayton said she doesn’t have the authority to order the ministry to stop shredding documents, but the ministry is aware of the investigation.

“We’ve pointed out again, that there are offences for wilfully destroying records in order to evade access requests,” she said. Both Commissioners have the authority to compel the production of documents, if required.

The investigation may be expanded to include other government departments, if necessary.

“The goal of the investigation, from our office’s perspective, is ensuring that Alberta’s public service maintains the highest possible standards of honesty, openness and accountability,” said Hourihan.

“We also want to demonstrate to employees that Alberta’s safe disclosure process works.”

The allegations have not been proven. Hourihan said the legitimacy of the complaint will be looked into.

“There are penalties for someone if they do have an axe to grind, if that comes out. They can’t do that. Does that mean people won’t? No.”

“The potential is always there. That’s something that we watch and guard against as we go through the investigation, and certainly will do so,” he said.

With files from The Canadian Press

© Shaw Media, 2015

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