Financial constraints lead to closure of 35 dialysis centres

KARACHI (APP) - Pakistan with 224 dialysis centres and 988 dialysis machines in 61 of its cities witnesses a constant surge in the number of diabetic patients with end stage renal failure.

The Fourth Dialysis Registry of Pakistan 2007-2008, released by the Kidney Foundation here Friday shows that the number of End Stage Renal Diabetics (ESRD) grew from 4393, in 2006-2007, to 6127 in 2007-2008.

This was in a scenario where number of dialysis centres supported by the community decreased from 20.08 % in 2006 to 12.94 % in 2007- 2008.

Twenty-one of the 224 dialysis centres were rendered non-functional due to administrative and financial constraints, 17 of the centres did not share the data while another 14 were closed down, due to un-disclosed reasons, in 2007-2008.