Nevis kidney failure deaths blamed on health minister

The former minister of health within the Nevis Island Administration has condemned his successor for “callous disregard” that is leading to loss of life on the island.

And Hensley Daniel, who was also deputy premier in the NIA until 2013, went as far to say that mistakes by Mark Brantley are enough to “drown him politically.”

The accusation centres around two dialysis machines, which Daniel says are still mothballed in the grounds of Alexandra Hospital – and have not been installed despite several deaths related to kidney failure.

The machines were purchased while Daniel served in the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) administration, and included two dialysis machines, a water treatment plant, two patient centric chairs, examination room and a nursing station.

“It was secured at a cost of US$214,000, with the Medical University of the Americas in Nevis contributing US$100,000,” Daniel said.

“The dialysis unit was assembled in Israel and arrived in Nevis on 1 April 2013.”

The NRP government left office in January 2013 after an election defeat.

Resignation call

WIC News has reached out to both Mark Brantley and the government for their response.

Daniel earlier said that he authorised the purchase of the machines due to increasing cases of kidney failure.

High numbers of diabetic and hypersensitive islanders, who are more at risk of suffering from kidney disease, also prompted the decision.

“I know that persons suffering from kidney failure have had to travel overseas for medical attention,” he said.

[caption id="attachment_3557" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Hensley Daniel.[/caption]

“I felt the urgent need to provide for them to be treated right here in Nevis.”

He claims that while the machines have sat unused, people who could otherwise have been helped have died. WIC News has been unable to independently verify this assertion.

“It is my settled view that the minister of health [Mark Brantley] has shown callous disregard for the people of Nevis by not installing the unit. As such, he should have been fired long ago,” the NRP member said.

“The people of Nevis must respond with revulsion to this level of stupidity,”

“Voters in Nevis must send this minister a clear message that they will not tolerate this vicious attack on the health of fellow Nevisians.

“If you vote for Mark, you are saying that you do not care about the people who now suffer from kidney failure. If you vote for Mark, you will also be saying that you do not care about your own health.

“We must hang the dialysis unit around the neck of the minister of health. It must drown him politically.”

Access to treatment in St Kitts

The issue of wasted health resources on Nevis hasn’t be tackled to any great degree by the media, the Chamber of Commerce or the Christian Council, Daniel added.

[caption id="attachment_3556" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Mark Brantley.[/caption]

The existence of two dialysis machines on Nevis was confirmed in a statement from the Ministry of Health in 2013.

In the same release, Brantley welcomed the opening of the haemodialysis unit at the Joseph N France Hospital in St Kitts.

This complemented the peritoneal dialysis facilities that were introduced to St. Kitts in 2003.