The Dialysis Services Program, organized by the Ministry of Health (MOH), was discussed in a meeting held yesterday (Monday) in the Ministry's headquarters. The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Minister for Hospitals Affairs, Dr. Aqeel bin Jama'an Al-Ghamdi, and was attended by the directors of health affairs, the heads of sub-committees and the members of Kidney Central Committee.
Meanwhile, Al-Ghamdi explained that the meeting comes within the framework of the efforts exerted by the MOH to provide dialysis services according to the highest international standards and specifications, including considering the project of service purchase, and the issues raised by each region, besides following up the contracts and the committees as well as following up the work of the international companies with which the contracts have recently been signed and started work on the project.
Al-Ghamdi added that the project is divided into three phases; the first phase has already started: it is expected to cover the main cities, in an endeavor to provide the service for more than 5.000 kidney patients. He pointed that the plan is running as per the outlined phases, noting that in the second and third phases a mechanism will be set for following up and coordination between the committees with all the regions to ensure providing the service for all kidney patients in line with the highest international standards, in order to be followed by the committees to consider the possibility of starting the second and third phases. In doing so, they seek to gain patients' satisfaction which the MOH always seeks to realize. Al-Ghamdi indicated that MOH seeks through this project with its three phases to provide the service for all the beneficiaries of its services, amounting to more than 10.000 patients.
Further, Al-Ghamdi underlined that the meeting discussed manpower and its requirements, besides the powers assigned to the sub-committees and central committees in the regions. "The topics discussed included the current status of the current and future centers, the infection control in such centers, in addition to improving the level of medical service and manpower in these centers, and how to best benefit of them," he elaborated.
It's worth mentioning here that MOH has offered to purchase such dialysis services making use of the international expertise due to the annually increasing number of patients with renal failure and the insufficiency of centers providing the services of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis on condition that these services are provided by the mother companies to suffice the increasing numbers of patients, promote the level of therapeutic services, provide the specialized medical staff, and offer medicines, medical supplies, consumables, and devices; that is to be added to their maintenance at all dialysis centers, in addition to transferring the expertise of these international companies to the Kingdom. Moreover, the service provider will establish and rent out dialysis centers, disseminated all over the regions and governorates, and will provide all the necessary furnishing and equipping with devices, consumable tools, and the integrated medical staff, according to the highest level of standards and quality; in an endeavor to provide the most effective and distinctive treatment methods.