Kidney failure cases increase, but facilities are hard to find

By Ibrahim Al-Qarni, Abdul Rahman Al-Khatarish, Mohammed Ali Al-Zayla'i, Hussein Al-Shabali and Saeed Rafi'

“I was diagnosed with kidney failure four years ago, and since then I've not so much been traveling for treatment as going on quests for care.”
So says Ahmed Jibril Mashari, a resident of a village near Al-Shaqeeq, who is only one of many kidney failure patients around the Kingdom, but particularly in the western regions with their mountains and difficult terrain, who do not just struggle with their kidney problems, but also with merely reaching medical attention.
“I have to go 130 km to get to the center where I undergo dialysis three times a week,” Ahmed says.
Kidney failure threatens the lives of some 1,700,000 people in the Kingdom, says Dr. Faisal Shaheen, head of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplants, quoting the latest available statistics. Twelve percent of kidney failure sufferers die per year.
The sufferings of kidney failure patients are, according to them, exacerbated by a lack of dialysis machines, the timings of appointments and the difficulties in simply getting from their places of residence in remote area to kidney dialysis centers in the main cities.
Such is the case in areas in the north of the Asir province, where patient complaints do not concern a lack of medicaments or equipment, but in simply getting to the hospital, while the situation is similar further south.
“I have to get to the hospital in Abu Areesh which is 150 km away from my house,” says Ahmed Al-Ghuleisi, a resident of Al-Shaqeeq. “I hope they provide us with a center soon and spare us all these difficulties.”
“I used to drive myself,” says Hadi Ali Humeidi, another Al-Shaqeeq resident,” but after a while I became too weak and now I depend on others to get me to hospital.”
Finding a transplant donor
In the kidney center at Jeddah's King Fahd Hospital Ali Madkhali holds his wife's hand. She has suffered from kidney failure for more than 20 years.
“The first five years were the most difficult,” Ali says, “after doctors said she would have to undergo a transplant. We sought treatment going from hospital to dialysis center until eventually a donor was found. That was fifteen years ago, and now every two or three months we come here from Jizan. Before we had trouble getting the necessary medicine but now we get it from the hospital in Jizan, at a price of SR600 per bottle, while we are given six bottles for free, but they last only two or three months.”
Others are forced to seek help further afield. Ahmed Abdullah is only 25 years old and has suffered from kidney failure since the age of 12. “The doctors said I needed a transplant, so I sought a donor but with no luck. I put my name on the waiting list and hoped for the best. After a long time and still with no sign of a donor my health started to deteriorate, so I went to another Arab country where they did tests on me and found me a donor. The transplant operation was a success, and since then I've been coming here to the King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah two to three times a week.
Yousef Al-Muteiri, who has borne kidney failure for eight years, had an organ transplant in Egypt at a cost of SR35,000 which soon after proved a failure.
“In the Kingdom, we perform around 400 kidney transplant operations a year,” Dr. Shaheen says, “but we expect that figure to double with the new organ donor scheme which targets potential donors for non-family-related recipients.”
Last year saw 119 people come forward, a 38 percent rise on the previous year, resulting in the donation of 166 kidneys.
“Extending the organ donor program is an imperative,” says Dr. Shaheen, “which if we can do should provide a supply of around 1,000 kidneys per year, meaning that there would no longer be a need for people to travel abroad for kidney transplants.”
The biggest obstacle to raising that number is the lack of donors. “Families refuse,” Dr. Shaheen says, “which shows that we need to organize awareness campaigns on the concept of organ transplants.”
Prevention and early
diagnosis
Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, General Supervisor of Prince Fahd Bin Salman Kidney Failure Care Society charity, said efforts were also required to promote early diagnosis and treatment before the condition reaches the stage of complete kidney failure.
“The former health minister Hamad Al-Mane' played an outstanding role in improving kidney dialysis centers,” Prince Abdul Aziz says. “There are now 176 such centers in the Kingdom. The present minister is also making great strides in putting into effect a national program in which various bodies will be working together, including the health and finance ministries and the kidney failure society.”
“The best strategy,” says specialist Dr. Mohsen Abdul ‘Aal, “is to put in place methods for prevention and early detection and constant medical revision of individual patients through regular examinations of blood pressure and kidney function.
The people most vulnerable to kidney diseases are those who have high blood pressure or blood sugar levels, as well as smokers and overweight people.”
According to Dr. ‘Aal, intake of water is extremely important. “We should take on more water than we do, especially those who exert physical effort during their daily routines, and we should also watch our weight carefully.”