Hodeidah locale is too busyKidney centre needs more support [Archives:2005/828/Health]

By Abdulwahab Al sofi
For the Yemen Times
Health is the most precious thing in life. Without a shadow of doubt, people who are sick make us feel mercy towards them. As Moslems, we should feel with others.

Health is no longer a personal responsibility only; it is a public one too. As far as civilization develops, diseases increase and spread rapidly all over the world. New diseases occur suddenly amongst our society. The smoke of factories and cars' exhausts, Qat with all toxins add to this tree. Smoking cigarettes, exhausts and many other polluters, pollute our atmosphere and cause many dangerous diseases such as malignant tumors, kidney failure, blood pressure and many other kinds.

In addition to that, water we use for drinking is mixed with chemical additives. Fruits and vegetables expose to insecticide's spray during growing. Canned foods, either liquid or solid, contain chemical additives. Food should contain no harmful chemical additives. Where is the protection of consumers in our country? Simply, we can say that we drink water mixed with chemical material added in, and we breathe polluted air to our lungs.

We also eat food blended with chemical additives. That is why, we are exposed to a real calamity in which dangerous diseases invade our society freely. It is absurd to see those patients on the beds of hospitals, and we enjoy satisfied healthy life.

Once, a friend, Mr. Hilal who works in the kidney's failure center in Hodeidah City, accompanied me, there. I saw different ages of patients and painful sights met our eyes. My body shuddered of the sight. All patients with frail bodies twisted my heart of pain. Their faces are as yellow as leaf of tree in autumn season. How painful they are.

I was so powerfully affected, that I burst into tears, since I was not accustomed to such sad scenery. I wished I could have visited it before. We entered the center through the hemodialysis unit where I saw patients connected with special lines for blood and many apparatuses and machines.

Around them nurses were working actively with the aim to safe life of those patients. When looked over this center, I felt that something is not so good. Patients did not seem satisfied to the services offered them.

I read many things in their eyes; soon a question came to my mind. What is going on here. I learned that patients always come from different far places and other governorates.

Despite that, they do not have places to get in hemo-dialysis many times. The majority of them have two sessions of dialysis per week and many others of patients have only one per week. In fact, the standard of dialysis is three times per a week, but unfortunately due to lack of place and overload in the center, patients cannot have this standard. Dialysis is life-saving therapy, without it, death is the standing for all kidney failure patients since not transplantation yet in Yemen.

Meanwhile, I decided to meet the manager of this important human center. It really provides a valuable human service to our country. It is worthy to get full support from the government or from other suppliers such as well disposed or charitable people. It also grants patients a little hope of life that carried to them unfortunate destiny.

I asked Dr Maher Maagam, the manager of the center, two questions: What are the obstacles and problems do you face in the center? He summarized the answers with two points:

1 – Increasing numbers of patients that now use the center do not cope with the available numbers of dialysis machines and the materials. The cases caught with kidney failure reached 370 patients, whereas only 15 hemo-dialysis machines exist so far. Therefore, works in the center doubles during day and night.

2 – The doctor added that the center does not only receive Hodeidah cases only, but also cases from neighboring governorates such as Hajjah, Raimah and Mahweet governorate.

The doctor wished that Ministry of health would have increased the capacity of the center in Hajjah .This will ease pressure of the center in Hodeidah.

The second question: what are reasons that cause kidney failure in general?

“There are many reasons,” the doctor said. “One of them is the healthy awareness especially in the countryside starting from the healthy units to the hospitals.

“Secondly, the existence of medical experiences in every part of our country helps easily in discovering the cases of kidney failure and many other diseases.”

While I was thinking of those sufferers at home, I thought to myself: we are human beings. We should imagine what it's like to be like them once. God (glory be to him) inflicted them. We should share their pain and help them.

God loves his creatures, especially humankind. He likes man to be healthy, as he wants man to believe in him. Allah creates us and grants us with all life's demands. Water, air, food and health are graces of him.

We should preserve these. They are our general responsibility. Today neither personal nor national care is enough. Governments and nations must work together in order to solve the problems of health throughout our country

It came to my knowledge that Ministry of Health is organizing very important steps to improve the services of this vital center in many governorates including Hodeidah.

We wish this will give those patients hope, and a smile which I missed in this visit.
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