For Mohamed Idris, life has not been normal since his wife of 40 years was diagnosed with kidney disease and prescribed twice-weekly dialysis.
An employee of a private company with no means to pay for medical expenses, he had visited one government hospital after another in Rawalpindi to book dialysis appointments, but to no avail: the hospitals were overloaded due to a huge influx of kidney patients.
Like many working-class people, he could not afford treatment at a private hospital and had to think of other ways to avoid financial difficulties.
“I tried to borrow money from a friend but was given the cold shoulder. I went to a moneylender who gave me money at 10 per cent interest, but I ended up spending more than Rs 2 lakh every month and realised I could not repay. I ended up leaving with nothing,” he said.
Idre said he had many sleepless nights before his brother told him about a charity that funds kidney treatment. He was able to make an appointment after initial confirmation.
Noon Foundation Medical Centre was established in February 2023 near Waris Khan on Murree Road in Rawalpindi. The centre has 16 dialysis machines where 30 people undergo dialysis every day, serving the underprivileged. As many as 130 patients are registered with the organisation.
Chairman of the foundation, Khalil Ahmed Noon, said the foundation strives to serve people and provide maximum facilities without remuneration. He said dialysis is expensive and it is difficult for people to pay. “We started working to provide treatment to those who qualify for it free of cost. We do not solicit funds from philanthropists and provide treatment from our own sources,” he said.
Noon said the organisation works in areas such as education but given the huge number of people with kidney disease, they launched this project to enable those affected by the condition to lead normal lives.
“We have also signed an agreement with Ali Medical Centre whereby eligible patients will be transferred to Ali Medical Centre in Islamabad for kidney transplant at a cost of just Rs 1.2 million,” he said, adding that they would also arrange for donations for transplants if the patients did not have the money.
Noon added that the foundation has also set up a modern pathology laboratory for the public and charges a small fee for medical tests.
“The basic objective of the institute was to be part of an awareness campaign for diabetic patients and conduct regular tests to avoid situations that may lead to kidney failure,” he said. “Diabetes and overuse of painkillers are the main causes of kidney failure,” he asserted and urged people to change their lifestyle habits.
Dr Zubair Hasan, director of the dialysis centre, said the prevalence of diabetes in Pakistan is around 30 per cent. “This means that one in three people has diabetes, which is the highest in the world,” he said, adding that most patients who come to the centre say they have been taking painkillers for more than six months, resulting in damage to their kidneys.
According to the doctor, the centre has 16 machines operating in two shifts and performed 7,600 dialysis procedures across 130 cases in one year. “Everything was free, including provision of medicines and laboratory tests related to the procedure,” he said. The centre's laboratory provides pathological tests of blood, liver and kidney at a nominal fee, which are free of charge for dialysis patients at the centre.
Published in Dawn on August 19, 2024
