Diaspora councillor to establish free dialysis centre in Nigeria
Diaspora councillor to establish free dialysis centre in Nigeria
A UK-based community leader and councillor, Hillaria Asumu, whose personal battle with kidney disease led her to become a health equity advocate, has announced plans to establish a free dialysis centre in Nigeria.
Asumu said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the establishment of a free dialysis centre is a vision driven by the high mortality rate.
She said the high mortality rate is usually caused by unaffordable treatment.
According to her, too many people die because dialysis is unaffordable. Families sell everything they have, and still, it is often not enough.
‘’Through the WSH Kidney Foundation, Nigeria, the groundwork has been laid to provide life-saving dialysis at some or no cost to the most vulnerable.”
She said that her journey from a community organiser in Salford, UK, to a health advocate was out of a deep sense of service and her own lived experience as a kidney transplant recipient.
“My personal journey with kidney disease opened my eyes to wider health inequalities.
“Surviving kidney failure and receiving a transplant gave me, not only a second chance at life but also a responsibility to push for better awareness and fairer access to healthcare,’’ she said.
The councillor said her unique perspective as a patient allowed her to connect with and fight for the voiceless within the healthcare system.
She said that this experience directly fueled her focus on health equity, particularly for Black and minority ethnic communities (BME), who faced significant disparities.
According to her, the disparities are clear, black people are disproportionately affected by kidney disease, and the support structures are not designed with us in mind.
She cited long transplant waiting times, cultural barriers and stigma around organ donation as critical factors contributing to loss of life.
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Asumu said her charity, the WSH BME Kidney Network, would tackle the issues head on by providing awareness, education and practical support to BME communities in the UK.
She advised that as a woman in leadership, young women aspiring to make a difference to “Do not wait to be asked, step forward.”
She emphasised that leadership is about courage and service, not titles, urging them to find and use their voice.
When addressing how she balanced her multiple roles as a councillor, community organiser, and health advocate, she credited her sense of purpose and collaboration.
“Each role feeds into the other. As a councillor, I bring what I hear on the ground into decision-making spaces. As a community advocate, I use my platform to push for fairer policies,” she said.
