Calvin Luthers, an end-stage renal failure patient, says the Government of Guyana (GOG) cash grant of $600,000 per patient initiative annually has helped a lot in his dialysis treatment.
The 51-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that nine years ago, he was diagnosed, and has had to undergo dialysis treatment at Doobay Medical Centre, Annandale, East Coast Demerara ever since. Initially, he had to find the sum of $12,000 per session and nowadays, he is required to have three dialysis sessions per week.

Luthers, who was previously self-employed as the owner of a general electronics repair shop, cannot work. These days, he depends solely on family and friends to assist him with monetary contributions for his weekly dialysis treatment.
He reported that this October will mark nine long years he has been suffering from renal failure, a condition that has weakened his health considerably, making him lose his concentration and good eyesight, thus, his inability to work.

“Honestly, I am very thankful for the administration’s cash grant for kidney patients because it is helping… and I wish it was more permanent for people like me who cannot work and have to depend on others to pay for my dialysis treatment at the private institution,” he said.
Luthers told the Pepperpot Magazine that the cash grant of $600,000 would give him three-months worth of dialysis treatment, which also includes transportation and medications.
He has been a beneficiary of the government’s cash grant for kidney patients for one year, and he remains thankful and hopeful that it has helped a lot.
In addition, Luthers, who is also hypertensive, lived abroad (Montserrat) for some time before he returned to the land of his birth, Guyana, to settle and work, but fate would have it that he became ill.

He stated that while the government’s intervention has helped a lot, at the expiry of it, he still has to find money to continue his dialysis treatment, burdening family and friends.
Although Luthers doesn’t have children, he is still finding it difficult to garner funds for his three-times-per-week dialysis treatment.
“I don’t want to sound ungrateful; I am not. In fact, I am very grateful for the gesture of this monetary grant and it is being used as it should,” he said.

Since 2020, the government has made dialysis treatment more accessible via their annual cash grant of $600,000 per patient.
Some $360M was allocated in the budget for the Ministry of Health Medical Treatment Department initiative to reduce the financial strain on patients who must use dialysis as an alternative to removing waste from the blood.
The cash grant for chronic kidney disease patients was rolled out in 2020 to supplement their treatment costs.

Currently, dialysis patients pay between $12,000-$15,000 per session and to maintain good health, they need at least three sessions per week.
In addition to those three sessions, they are required to purchase medication, eat a balanced diet as well as do a series of blood tests as often as needed.
Chronic kidney disease patients have long lamented the financial constraints they are placed in. Some of the patients are also forced to go to dialysis two times instead of three.
The government is seeking to add erythropoietin – one of the critical drugs in the treatment of kidney disease – to the list of medications offered in the public healthcare system soon.

According to the Johns Hopkins Medicine website, “End-stage renal failure, also known as end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is the final, permanent stage of chronic kidney disease, where kidney function has declined to the point that the kidneys can no longer function on their own.
A patient with end-stage renal failure must receive dialysis or kidney transplantation in order to survive for more than a few weeks.

Patients may experience a wide variety of symptoms as kidney failure progresses. These include fatigue, drowsiness, decrease in urination or inability to urinate, dry skin, itchy skin, headache, weight loss, nausea, bone pain, skin and nail changes and easy bruising.
Doctors can diagnose the disease with blood tests, urine tests, kidney ultrasound, kidney biopsy, and CT scan.
Some of the risk factors for developing chronic kidney disease—that could ultimately lead to end-stage renal failure—include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, drug abuse, blockages in the urinary tract, family history, inflammation, and some genetic disorders. Additionally, having chronic kidney disease and not properly managing it can cause the disease to progress to the point that it becomes end-stage.”