MAKKAH: As cases of kidney failure continue to rise in Saudi Arabia, dialysis centers are unable to cope with the growing number of patients.
“Because of the large number of patients looking for dialysis, the centers are unable to accept any extra,” said Abdul Rahman Al-Jazairi, 50, who has been receiving dialysis treatment for five years.
Some patients say their search for dialysis treatment has hampered their work.
“I thank the municipality for not disposing of me because of the time I spend looking for dialysis,” said Hamza Samaran, a 55-year-old public servant in Makkah.
Salah Fatani, 29, said he had kidney failure for about 10 years. He said, was lucky because he was not married and had no problem obtaining dialysis on a regular baseis.
Said Saeed, 70, who lives outside Makkah says seeking this life-saving treatment is expensive, costing him about SR100 in taxi expenses to and from the nearest dialysis center.
“This has depleted all my savings,” he said.
For his part, Fatani points out that the price of the medicine alone “ranges between SR1,100 and SR1,800 for three months.”
The head of the kidney center at Al-Noor Specialist Hospital in Makkah, Dr. Muhammad Tashkandi, said cases of kidney failure were rising by 7 to 8 percent annually in the Kingdom.
Last year, there were 60,460 dialysis sessions at government health centers across the Kingdom, up from 58,528 the previous year.
“Last year, there were 125,215 dialysis sessions in the government hospital and public and welfare centers,” Tashkandi added.