PANAJI
Incidence of kidney ailments and failures among Goans is alarmingly worsening with official data supplied by the government in the Goa legislative Assembly showing that at least three new patients are being diagnosed per day (average) over the last three years.
Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told the House that 3,098 people have got added to the statistics of patients diagnosed and treated for renal diseases at the Goa Medical College and Hospital.
Rane in the written reply to a query posed by Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco said in 2021-22, 883 kidney failure cases were reported in GMC alone.
Also, men far outnumber women with over 75 per cent of the patients of renal failure being male and the numbers are also rising annually, the data supplied by Rane shows.
In 2021-22 for instance, 633 of the 883 cases were men with people aged 40 and above being the most vulnerable -- 375 and 355 patients were in the 40-60 and 60-80 age brackets accounting for nearly 90 per cent.
Interestingly, the Health Minister's data also shows that renal failure demographics within the State is also gradually changing. Now, centrally located Tiswadi taluka has reported the maximum number of patients (140 patients) in 2023-24. In the past, southern border taluka of Canacona used to be the one reporting maximum patients.
Meanwhile, in 2022-23, 1005 kidney failure patients were diagnosed and treated. Again, the men to women ratio was 70 to 30 and Bardez reported the maximum (166 patients) in that year.
Last year (2023-24) the number of patients diagnosed and treated increased to 1,210 with Bardez again topping the list of talukas with the maximum (185) patients.
Across the three years between 2021 and 2024, nearly 70 per cent of the patients were males and 30 per cent women.
