JEDDAH, 7 July 2007 — The National Commercial Bank (NCB) will provide 65 dialysis machines to 32 government hospitals in 26 Saudi cities at a total cost of more than SR5 million as part of its social service, it was announced here yesterday.
The bank has signed an agreement with Prince Fahd ibn Salman Charitable Society for the Care of Kidney Patients in this respect.
Abdullah Bahamdan, chairman of the bank’s board of directors, signed the deal with Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Salman, supervisor of the charity, and Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie.
The NCB’s move is significant as the number of kidney patients in the Kingdom increases at the rate of nine percent annually. “There are now more than 90,000 kidney patients across the country,” Prince Abdul Aziz said, adding that many of them suffer due to a lack of dialysis machines.
“The growing number of kidney patients demands the establishment of more dialysis centers with the private sector’s support,” the prince said. He also called for more kidney transplant operations to end the suffering of kidney patients. The charity provides three to four dialysis sessions weekly to kidney patients at hospitals and specialized centers.
“We have decided to provide these machines to support kidney patients in different parts of the country as part of our social responsibility. We also want to offer our expertise and services in the service of the country and its development by meeting the society’s economic, educational and health requirements,” Bahamdan said.
“The latest agreement aims at developing the health service sector in order to improve its services to different groups of people in the society,” the NCB chief said. “Our bank is not only concerned with accounts and financial matters but also humanitarian issues. NCB is one of the oldest national financial institutions that have been interacting with society in a constructive manner over the past several years.”
Mahmoud Al-Turkistani, chairman of the social service unit at NCB, said the bank’s program to provide medical equipment to hospitals was designed to support the Kingdom’s health sector. The unit runs other programs aimed at supporting the education sector and charitable societies and creating job opportunities for Saudis.
He said under the latest agreement, the Prince Fahd ibn Salman Charitable Society and Health Ministry would give the bank a list government hospitals that are badly in need of dialysis machines. They will also install, operate and maintain the machines while bank will provide necessary finance to carry out the program.
