Professor Says Over Five Million Ghanaians Have Kidney Disease

A professor of medicine and nephrology at the University of Ghana said more than five million Ghanaians may be living with chronic kidney disease. He made the statement during his inaugural lecture at the university's Legon campus in Accra on Thursday. The lecture focused on genetic factors and precision approaches to kidney care. Prof. 2 percent carrying two risk variants.

This compares with 19 percent among people of Ga origin and 17 percent among those from the Volta Region. Boima explained that the gene variant originally helped protect against sleeping sickness but now increases susceptibility to kidney disease.

3 percent of Ghana's population is affected by kidney disease, with most patients between the ages of 20 and 50. Boima contrasted this with high-income countries, where most patients are over 60. He identified hypertension, diabetes, infections such as HIV and hepatitis, environmental toxins, and painkiller misuse as major contributing factors.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, about 16 percent of the population, or nearly 200 million people, may be living with kidney disease. Boima called for targeted screening among high-risk ethnic groups and wider adoption of precision medicine to improve diagnosis and treatment.