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Each year, the world marks World Kidney Day to raise awareness about kidney health and the growing burden of kidney disease. For Nigeria, the day should serve as a stark reminder of a silent public health crisis that continues to claim lives quietly, largely because treatment is unaffordable and the health system remains dangerously weak. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has become one of the most pressing non-communicable diseases globally. According to global health research, about 788 million people worldwide are living with CKD, representing roughly 14 per cent of the world’s adult population. The disease has also become the ninth leading cause of death globally, claiming about 1.48 million lives every year.
Nigeria faces a disproportionately heavy burden. The Nigerian Association of Nephrology estimates that about 10 percent of Nigerians — roughly 24 to 25 million people — are living with chronic kidney disease. This must be redressed. The staggering figure means kidney disease affects far more Nigerians than many other illnesses. While diseases such as HIV/AIDS have received global attention and structured intervention programmes, kidney disease has not received comparable urgency in policy or funding.
Yet the risk factors are everywhere. Rising cases of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, environmental pollution, and unhealthy diets are driving kidney failure across the country. Alarmingly, many patients only discover the disease when it has progressed to its most dangerous stages. By then, survival depends on dialysis or kidney transplantation. And this is where the tragedy deepens. In Nigeria today, staying alive with kidney failure is often a question of money.
A single dialysis session in many private facilities now costs around ₦80,000, sometimes more. Medical guidelines recommend that kidney patients undergo dialysis two to three times weekly to survive. The arithmetic is frightening. At two sessions weekly, a patient spends roughly ₦160,000 every week. That translates to about ₦640,000 per month. Over a year, the cost rises to about ₦7.6 million. For patients requiring three sessions weekly, the cost climbs to nearly ₦1 million per month — more than ₦11 million annually.
In Nigeria where the minimum wage is ₦70,000, which itself is often delayed or unpaid in several states, the implication is dire. For the average Nigerian diagnosed with kidney failure, survival becomes almost impossible without financial help. Even kidney transplantation is beyond the reach of most Nigerian families. A transplant costs between ₦25 million and ₦30 million, excluding other lifelong drugs required afterward.
It is, therefore, unsurprising that many kidney patients discontinue treatment. Medical reports indicate that a significant number of dialysis patients drop out after only a few sessions because they cannot afford to continue.
The shortage of specialists further compounds the crisis.
Nigeria currently has fewer than 250 nephrologists serving a population of over 230 million people — a dangerously low ratio for a country with tens of millions at risk of kidney disease.
The result is a healthcare system stretched beyond its limits. Recruiters in some hospitals have even lamented that there are hardly enough nephrologists to employ, reflecting a severe manpower gap. Infrastructure is equally inadequate. Nationwide, there are only about 354 functional dialysis machines, serving an estimated 230,000 patients who urgently require life-saving dialysis or transplant care.
Meanwhile, according to global health data, kidney disease causes over 18,000 deaths annually in Nigeria.
Behind these statistics are real people — breadwinners, mothers, fathers, and young adults whose lives are suddenly reduced to a desperate search for treatment funds. The Federal Government has taken a step in the right direction by subsidising dialysis in some federal hospitals, reducing the cost to about ₦12,000 per session in a limited number of centres.
But this intervention currently covers only about 10 to 11 facilities nationwide, leaving millions of patients outside the safety net. For a country of Nigeria’s size, this is simply not enough. What Nigeria needs is a comprehensive national response to kidney disease. First, kidney treatment must be fully integrated into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), ensuring that dialysis and transplant cares are accessible to ordinary citizens. No Nigerian should be condemned to death simply because treatment is unaffordable.
Second, mass screening programmes must be introduced, particularly for hypertension and diabetes — the two leading causes of kidney failure. Early detection can slow disease progression and prevent many cases from reaching the costly dialysis stage. Third, government must invest in training more nephrologists, expanding dialysis centres, and strengthening renal research and data systems.
Nigeria’s broader health sector urgently requires structural reform. A fragile health system cannot respond effectively to rising non-communicable diseases such as kidney failure. The World Kidney Day should be a national wake-up call, not another ceremonial date on the calendar. Millions of Nigerians are living with failing kidneys. Unfortunately, thousands die quietly each year because treatment is beyond their reach. This should not be.
