THIS refers to the letter about prolonged closure (March 31) of the dialysis centre at Taluka hospital, Ghotki. Caretakers, please take notice.

Approximately 25,000 patients of chronic renal failure die every year due to non-availability of organsi n spite of the permission by the law for organ donation after death. Many people die because of the non-availability of dialysis facilities near their homes, some of them because of severe uremia, pulmonary edema and some of them because of high potassium in blood which causes cardiac arrest.

Dialysis is a treatment which should be provided whenever needed in emergency near the homes of the needy.

With reference to the letter published in these columns about the dialysis unit at Ghotki Taluka Hospital, which remains closed for a long time, I must say that it is unjust to patients of kidney failure belonging to this area.

Ideally, there should be a 24-hour dialysis facility in every district hospital because it is life-saving treatment. If I am not wrong, some time ago the government provided a dialysis machine to every district hospital of Sindh. May I dare to ask what happened to those machines?

Two things are most important for kidney failure patients: one, urgent dialysis if they require and, second, the kidney transplant if it is a chronic renal failure.

Dialysis is required two times in a week and some times thrice till the patient is recovered from renal failure. If it is an acute renal failure or transplantation of a new kidney if it is a chronic renal failure.

Even a patient belonging to a middle class family cannot afford to travel hundreds of miles two times a week to get treatment and it is out of question if it is not provided free.

Travel expenses are non-affordable by the majority of our people. The government should start Ghotki dialysis unit without wasting time and also concentrate on starting dialysis units in every district and taluka hospitals of Sindh and make it sure that it is free.

One thing more I must say that wherever dialysis is available in government hospitals, it should be provided free, day and night. Because of the non-availability of life-saving treatment on time near their homes, many patients must have died on the way to hospital, providing the facility of dialysis.

At present there is only SIUT which is providing free medical services to their patients day and night.

Murli Dhar Karachi