Kidney patients in Hodeidah and neighboring provinces…from imminent death to life

From his right and left, both of his sons played the role of two crutches to cross their elderly father to a hospital seeking for his survival. Like this elderly man, many others did the same thing and traveled long distances that took more than a day for the same reason (survival). So what happened there? And did the sick find a second chance to keep living? Two questions that are difficult to answer without going over the details of the full human story that this report tells in a manner contrary to the journalistic rule: “What happens last is written first.”

A journey for treatment while being on the brink of death:

After the arrival of “Hajj Hassan” from his “Rima-Al-Jabaliya” governorate to the coastal city of Hodeidah, he had to wait with his swollen feet in front of the dialysis center for another day; To get his life-saving session, doctors say: “Hassan’s condition requires two to three sessions a week,” but he barely performs one or two sessions, which compounds his health condition, as other diseases began to invade his exhausted body and show symptoms on him.

Hassan’s son says that what exhausts his father the most is the long journey from his village – in which there is no dialysis center – and the long waiting line in front of the workers’ city dialysis center in Hodeidah, adding: “After six hours of travel, I hope that the session will take place tomorrow morning; So we can come back in the evening.”

When we asked him the question: “Why don’t you stay here instead of the return trip as long as the session is weekly?” We ask Hassan’s son, and he answers after a long sigh that shook his sides: “Our financial situation does not allow us to pay rent for housing in Hodeidah.”

Hassan, who suffers from kidney failure, is one of 1,100 others, most of whom are from neighboring governorates (Al-Mahweet, Hajjah, Raymah, and Dhamar), all of whom suffer from the same disease, and are distributed among seven dialysis centers in Al-Hodeidah, in Zabid, Al-Qanaws, Bajil, Beit Al-Faqih, and Jabal Ras.

The largest of those centers is in the city of Al-Omal in the city of Hodeidah, where the patient, Hassan, is located. The center is old, lacks maintenance, and suffers from many problems at the level of its capabilities and equipment, as the center is unable to accommodate patients whose numbers are doubling weekly, in addition to the many challenges that the center faces on a daily basis that threatens to close it. For example, the depletion of its therapeutic chemical solutions; While the most dangerous thing is the breakdown of washing machines, and the difficulty of updating and maintaining them in light of the blockade that has been going on for years on the country as a whole.The center has faced several risks that almost led to its closure, and it launched dozens of distress calls at that time.

Solutions available:

Those in charge of the center are aware that attempts to maintain the building – even if it happened – will not solve the problem of patients, whose numbers are rising and their long sufferings for survival are multiplied.

Those in charge of the center began to study the idea of expanding the building while also renewing the old building. Here, the idea once again collided with the poor infrastructure of the center, which was not originally qualified to add new medical departments and annexes. The opinion settled on the priority of establishing a new dialysis center, to reduce the burden on the rest of the centers, and avoid the constituent deficiencies in them, in order for (Hassan) and hundreds of others to obtain the dialysis sessions required to survive.

The official authorities in Hodeidah started the construction and incorporation works, funded by the Hodeidah Assistance and Support Fund, as the Fund mobilized its financial capacity on that day. For the center to be ready, and in August of last year 2022, His Excellency the President of the Supreme Political Council, Field Marshal Mahdi Al-Mashat, inaugurated (the Martyr Al-Sammad Center) for dialysis (free of charge), in the presence of a number of state leaders and officials of the local authority in Al-Hodeidah Governorate. With this inauguration, the new center carried the name of the martyr president as a symbol for his heroism. In the presence of his successor, President Al-Mashat, the dialysis patients turned unforgettable pages from the memory of suffering and death.

Martyr Al-Sammad Center… Opening in conjunction with construction:

The new center, which provides medical service (for free), came as a response from the authorities to the emergency situation; It was opened before the completion of the processing work and the rest of the necessary equipment and capabilities were provided to it. Therefore, in conjunction with its opening, its facilities were completed and provided with the necessary equipment and beds.

The director of dialysis centers in Hodeidah, Suleiman Kamal, says: “The opening of the Martyr Al-Sammad Center alleviated the suffering of the centers in Hodeidah and the suffering of patients. The old center is very crowded, and cannot accommodate the large number of patients, as the opening of the Al-Sammad Center came partially to reduce the burden on the rest of the centers.”

Suleiman added, “The first phase was opened with 12 dialysis machines, which eased the suffering of the patients, and we hope to Allah that the remaining stages will be opened to alleviate the suffering.”

The local authority in Hodeidah, with direct follow-up from the political leadership represented by His Excellency President Mahdi Al-Mashat, was fully aware of the extent of the suffering faced by patients with kidney failure, as Suleiman asserts by saying: “We will work in the coming stages to open centers and branches in various areas to save effort and time for patients who travel long distances to get here.”

On the question of the reason for the high number of patients with renal failure in Hodeidah in particular? Suleiman says: Kidney failure is a disease associated with: either diabetes, pressure, or stones, and many diseases that the environment and difficult living conditions contribute to; It is known that most of the patients in Al-Hodeidah governorate are from the neighboring governorates and not from Al-Hodeidah, but reaching Al-Hodeidah is easier for patients than traveling to Hajjah or to Al-Mahweet and the rest of the governorates. This makes dialysis centers bear a burden that exceeds their allocated capacity.

Patient messages:

One of the dialysis patients, who was used to the old center, sums up his previous suffering by saying: “The situation was tiring,” as he was waiting at least two days for his turn in a session that keeps him alive, or what is medically known as (dialysis session), and from his suffering, this patient puts us in front of a clear picture of the situation he is in today, saying: “Now with the new center, praise be to Allah, I arrive at my appointed time and I enter the room looking at an empty chair for me!, and this is something that made me feel very comfortable.”

However, this patient has not yet forgotten the memories of the old center, “I remember how the situation was in the past; Sometimes, I had to give up the session and go home because of the heavy traffic, but now, the situation is incomparable, praise be to Allah.”

Another patient, while on the treatment chair, says: “Praise be to Allah, in the new center we even felt a great improvement in our health condition, it is enough for me to reach a ready-made chair without any problems.” He added: “The center alleviated our previous suffering. The service here is free, and I thank with all my heart the officials who paid attention to our suffering, and I hope they continue projects of this kind that relieve patients who do not know what to do. May Allah grant them success and reward them with good.”

Information about the Martyr Al-Sammad Center:

The Martyr Al-Sammad Center, which was inaugurated by President Al-Mashat in August 2022, operates with a full Yemeni cadre, and works for three shifts. The center was established to be the largest in its field, and the authorities seek to turn it into a center for fragmentation of stones and kidney transplantation in the future. The center is currently operating with part of its capacity, but it is equipped with advanced laboratories, a water desalination plant, distilled water production, and modern equipment. Perhaps the most prominent feature of this humanitarian center is that it provides its services for free. For this reason, “Hassan” and hundreds to find life again, whom are just patients suffering from the worst humanitarian crisis in the world as a result of the Saudi-American aggression and blockade on Yemen that been going on for 8 years.