ABSTRACT
Renal disease is more prevalent and tends to be more severe in Africa than in the developed world. Economic and manpower factors, however, impose severe restrictions on the detection and appropriate management of these patients. The South African Demographic Health Survey of over 13,000 adults is the largest and most geographically representative national cross-sectional and was undertaken in 1998 to investigate the prevalence as well as treatment status of hypertension. Hypertension thus occurs more commonly in people of African descent when compared with people of other ethnic groups. Major causes of acute renal failure in many parts of Africa are malaria, gastro-enteritis, human immunodeficiency virus, infections, and traditional medicines. Renal diseases are common in sub-Saharan Africa, are often undetected leading to late presentation of the patients. Renal diseases are common in sub-Saharan Africa, are often undetected leading to late presentation of the patients.
