NBC veteran appeals for kidney donor

After nearly a decade of battling kidney failure, 59-year-old Teofe Karipi is appealing for a compatible kidney donor, hoping a transplant will restore some of the independence he has lost to a disease that has disrupted his career, family life and freedom to travel.

The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) employee, who has worked for the broadcaster for 33 years, undergoes dialysis three times a week, spending four hours per session having waste and excess fluid removed from his blood.

His health problems began during a work trip to Keetmanshoop in 2017, when he experienced unexplained symptoms that eventually led to a diagnosis of kidney failure.

“I started having feelings of poor health that I was not experiencing before,” he recalled.

Speaking to Namibian Sun in a telephonic interview this week, Karipi said he sought medical attention at Mediclinic and Roman Catholic hospitals in Windhoek. After several weeks of investigations, doctors discovered that his kidneys were failing.

“I didn't know what kidney failure was. I felt like I could not breathe. I felt sick. I never thought it was connected to the kidney,” he said.

Between 2017 and 2019, Karipi was repeatedly hospitalised, sometimes for up to two weeks, and admitted to intensive care four times.

Initially diagnosed with stage four kidney disease, he managed the condition through medication and dietary changes. Doctors attributed his kidney failure to uncontrolled high blood pressure.

His condition eventually deteriorated and he began dialysis about four to five years ago.

Life revolves around dialysis

Karipi now receives treatment every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, making travel difficult because he must arrange access to dialysis facilities wherever he goes.

“The impact of this disease is that you have no movement,” he told Namibian Sun.

“Travelling requires advance planning. The dialysis centres are not all over the country. If I try to travel, I can hardly move. You cannot go where you wish to go. You must make sure there is a centre where you travel,” Karipi explained.

His illness has also affected his work as NBC's head of organisational development, increasingly forcing him to work from home.

“It's not the same as being at the office. The body is deteriorating; you are bedridden all the time,” he said.

Despite these challenges, Karipi says he has accepted his condition and remains determined not to let it overwhelm him.

“I am not fighting it. I am accepting it. I do not want to allow it to depress me,” he said.

His years of treatment have also exposed him to what he believes is inadequate public awareness of kidney disease in Namibia.

“I am not the only one. I have realised that the hall is full of other patients when I go to the hospital,” he said.

“I don't see the campaigns about what kidney disease is and how to prevent it. It's rampant but there's no information about it,” he added.

No accessible donor list

The World Health Organisation estimates that 674 million people worldwide live with chronic kidney disease, most of them in low- and middle-income countries.

The disease progressively reduces the kidneys' ability to filter waste and excess fluid from the blood, with hypertension and diabetes among its major risk factors.

Dialysis access has remained a concern in Namibia. In February 2023, former health minister Kalumbi Shangula acknowledged challenges in providing treatment through public hospitals.

The commissioning of a dialysis unit at Oshakati State Hospital in October 2024 brought relief to patients in northern Namibia. Shangula said government was spending more than N$100 million annually on dialysis services.

Karipi believes more attention should be given to early detection, blood pressure management and information about kidney transplantation.

He is also concerned about Namibia lacking an accessible, formal waiting-list system for kidney donors.

“There are no systems of donating in Namibia. I have not heard of a single list I can put my name on since 2017,” he said.

Family appeals for kidney donor

Karipi's family has now launched a public appeal for a compatible living kidney donor, hoping a successful transplant will allow him to regain greater independence.

In a message circulated on social media, the family appealed to healthy adults with blood group O+ or O- to volunteer for compatibility testing.

The family said initial blood tests would be conducted at the Kidney & Dialysis Specialist Centre in Windhoek, with further medical assessments required to determine donor suitability.

It said all medical evaluations and the transplant procedure would take place in Namibia.

Prospective donors can contact the centre at 109 John Meinert Street, Windhoek West, on 061 442 750 or 061 400 200.

The family can also be contacted through Dr Edwig Karipi on 081 149 2943.