ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the nephrological situation of Benin as seen from the point of view of two health institutions, one being the University Teaching Hospital Centre Nationale Hospitalier Universitaire (CNHU) at Cotonou, and the other the Hopital St Jean de Dieu at Tanguieta. The CNHU is the only teaching hospital of Benin, of which it is the main institution for treatment of the sick and for biomedical research. Ten doctors, nine of whom are Africans, 106 paramedicals work in the hospital, where in 2002 more than 7700 patients were hospitalized, 1842 interventions of major surgery were performed, 11,560 patients were seen in the clinics. The detection of urine proteins with the sulfosalicylic method was replaced with a 10-pad dipstick, which besides albumin allowed the detection of other important analytes such as urine pH, specific gravity, glucose, hemoglobin, leukocyte esterase, and nitrites.
