In a Press Conference with Ministry of Health in Adan, IRC Warns Against the Collapse of Kidney Failure Treatment

[su_label type=”info”]SMA News – Adan – Exclusive [/su_label][su_spacer size=”10″] In a press conference held in the temporary capital, Adan, in cooperation with Yemeni Ministry of Health on Wednesday April 18th, 2018, International Red Cross (IRC) warned about full collapse of health conditions for kidney failure patients. IRC said: “health situation of kidney failure patients is collapsing unless Yemeni government and local and international organizations quickly move to save lives of patients”. Carlos Pattas, head of IRC delegation to Yemen, Maria Del Blear, chief of health office in the commission, Gamal Khadabakhash, general director of Adan Health Department and other workers in health care attended the conference. Mr. Pattas said: “25% of kidney failure patients in Yemen die annually because of lack of medication in addition to the deterioration of health conditions in the country that suffers from war for 3 years now. We held that conference to shed light on the suffering of those patients and to mobilize local and international support to save the situation”. He also noted that thousands of Yemeni citizens will face death every year unless dialysis centers, 32 centers in 15 governorates, are supported. He added that only five dialysis centers are open in Sanaa, Al-Muhoubet and Hajjah in the north and Adan and Shabwa in the south, indicating that IRC support for dialysis centers will end by next December. According to Yemeni ministry of health statistics, there are five thousand patients with kidney failure and nearly third of them lack health care because of current conflicts and difficulty of transportation among governorates. It is noteworthy that 4 out of 32 dialysis centers that were working before the war were shut down while 28 face problems in providing services because of lack of maintenance, equipment and salaries. For three years now, Yemen is under fierce war between troops loyal to president Hady and supported by the Arab Coalition on one hand and Al-Houthi militias on the other. That war created very difficult humanitarian conditions.