At least 347 cases of renal failure have been registered in North West District last year alone, the council has been informed.
Already three people died due to the kidney condition during the same year and nineteen put on dialysis.
The revelation was made in a written response to a question posed by Thito East councillor, Othaile Molamu, who had wanted to know the cause of kidney failure in the district and the number of people who have succumbed to the problem.
Molamu expressed suspicion that people could be poisoned by drinking the salty Ngamiland water or some food that could be contributing to the ailments.
“Many people are dying from kidney failure in Maun and surrounding areas. We are concerned and worried that we may be consuming the poison through food or water, so we want to know what is happening,” Molamu said during a follow-up interview outside the council.
However the response from the District Health Management Team (DHMT) suggested that people are being killed by other consumables other than water, such as unhealthy consumption of alcohol, use of tobacco and drugs.
Further it was explained that other factors that may trigger organ damage and cause kidney failure include obesity and lack of exercise.
“Communities therefore need to be encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyles in order to control non communicable disease and avert end organ damage including kidney failure,” stated DHMT.
Further they indicated that the problem is not only specific to North West but a countrywide problem as “the country is experiencing the shift of epidemiology with non-communicable diseases being more prevalent and causing more morbidity and mortality compared to the traditional communicable diseases.”
From the recorded number, kidney failure associated illnesses- according to DHMT, forty percent have hypertension, twenty-one are living with HIV/ AIDS and five per cent are diabetic.
