SR400m program to serve 5,000 renal patients — including expats

A SR400 million charitable program, named after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, was launched on Wednesday to serve 5,000 kidney patients including citizens and residents, free of charge. About 1,000 dialysis machines will be made available in major cities under the program.
Second Deputy Premier Prince Muqrin launched the project initiated by King Abdullah Foundation for International Humanitarian Work. “It will be added to the list of outstanding humanitarian works initiated by the king in different areas,” he said.
Later speaking to reporters, Prince Muqrin said King Abdullah has instructed that the project should serve both citizens and residents.
Prince Khaled bin Abdullah, chairman of the foundation’s board, said they have started establishing kidney care centers across the Kingdom. “The dialysis services, which will cost SR400 million per annum, will be provided free of charge through 1,000 dialysis machines with a total capacity of 5,000 patients,” he said.
The National Guard represented by its Health Affairs Department, will give operational and supervisory support to the project in addition to medical cadres.
The project envisages setting up of two dialysis centers in Riyadh and Jeddah in the first phase with a total of 475 dialysis machines. The second phase involves launching dialysis centers in Makkah, Madinah, Hail, Qassim and Rafha with 230 dialysis machines.
The third stage will be taken up to set up such centers with 295 dialysis machines covering other cities in the Kingdom. The entire operation will be completed over a period of seven years.
Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman, supervisor of Prince Fahd bin Salman Charitable Association for Renal Failure Patients Care, said there are currently about 15,000 kidney failure patients with an annual increase of almost 10 percent.