DAMMAM: Dr. Abdul Qayyum Mohammed Saleh of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplant (SCOT) revealed that the number of patients suffering from kidney failure in the Kingdom reached 23,000, including patients who receive dialysis at government hospitals.

He said during the opening of the fifth medical conference on kidney patients 2015 in Al-Ahsa that the number of people currently receiving treatment at government hospitals reached 15,000, and the number is expected to climb to 19,000 by the year 2020 at a rise of 7 percent.

He added that the Kingdom has 187 centers for dialysis spread across various parts of the Kingdom. He further revealed that the opening of a comprehensive center costs millions of riyals, because it requires the advanced medical expertise, specialized nurses and technicians, and state-of-the-art medical equipment.

He stressed that a kidney transplant is the best treatment for kidney failure patients, saying children with kidney failure don’t grow properly and women can’t bear children.

After the success of a transplant the child grows normally and women can have children. He pointed out that kidney failure patients are at risk of heart attacks and sudden death.