RIYADH, 21 January 2007 — The first nationwide program to sponsor patients suffering from kidney failure kicked off at a private clinic in the capital with the support of Prince Fahd ibn Salman Charitable Society for the Care of Kidney Patients.
Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Salman, supervisor of the charitable society, inaugurated the program yesterday, the first day of the new Hijrah year.
Twenty patients with kidney problems have begun dialysis treatment and are receiving medicines free of charge at the Arab Medical Dar here. “Our collaboration with the Arab Medical Dar comes after the association and the NCCI (National Company for Cooperative Insurance) negotiated with hospitals and medical clinics to get the best price for treating kidney patients,” said Prince Abdul Aziz.
According to the prince, the program aims at providing free treatment and transportation for 400 patients at an estimated cost of SR37.4 million. In the initial stage, the program is expected to sponsor patients in Riyadh and Jeddah followed by other cities.
Prince Abdul Aziz signed an agreement with the NCCI in October to sponsor the program. He said that a religious edict had been issued allowing contribution of Zakah and charity funds to the program to ease the suffering of patients who cannot afford the high costs of treatment.
“Discussions are also under way with the chambers of commerce and industry to present before Saudi businessmen the association’s programs with the aim of gaining as much financial support as possible,” he added.
Prince Abdul Aziz noted that among the association’s future projects is a program to encourage relatives to donate organs of brain-dead patients. The program will be carried out with the cooperation of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC).
“This program, God willing, will ease the long wait patients have to put up with in government hospitals to have organ transplants,” he said.
The percentage of organs donated from brain-dead patients is currently at five percent, according to the prince.
Donating organs of brain-dead patients is permissible from a religious point of view, he said, adding that there was a fatwa allowing this.
A seminar conducted at the KFSHRC last year sparked an intense debate after one of the key speakers said donating organs of brain-dead people was permissible according to the majority of Islamic scholars. A presenter from Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University argued at the seminar that religious scholars in the Kingdom did not consider a brain-dead patient physically dead.
Prince Abdul Aziz said that the society’s main aim was improving quality of treatment and preventing the increase of kidney failure cases in the Kingdom.
“The number has reached 9,400 last year, an increase of 900 patients,” noted the prince.
According to Prince Abdul Aziz, the annual cost of treating a kidney patient is between SR100,000 to SR120,000, which includes medicines and transportation.
Prince Abdul Aziz said the society aims to increase the number of patients treated under the program to more than 400 and called on philanthropists to help reduce the suffering of kidney patients in the Kingdom.
He said foreign residents who suffer from kidney problems could also benefit from the program if they were diagnosed with the illness while living in the Kingdom.
According to the society, a donator may sponsor a patient by his name for a year or more. It has opened accounts in some local banks for donations: National Commercial Bank account number (24648921000406) for donations and (24648921000308) for Zakah; Al-Rajhi Bank (446608010000976) for donations (446608010000794) for Zakah.
