The Cuban Ministry of Public Health intends to put nine centers into operation to provide hemodialysis services to patients with kidney failure in the first semester of 2023, according to reported to the newspaper Granma, Jorge Pordieguez, director of Investments of the entity.
The official checked in Pinar del Río the works at the Primero de Enero polyclinic, where the installation of between ten and 15 artificial kidneys is planned for the benefit of patients from Consolación del Sur, Los Palacios and La Palma.
Pordieguez assured that these new centers must have their water treatment plants and cisterns thanks to a loan from the French Development Agency (AFD), which will also allow the modernization of the Microbiology laboratories belonging to the Provincial Hygiene and Epidemiology Centers.
The Cuban authorities had already revealed details about this project in May 2022, when they reported on the incorporation of nine service units with 102 hemodialysis machines and five reverse osmosis water treatment systems, which would be distributed in seven provinces outside of Cuba. Havana.
Although now the Director of Investments of the Ministry of Public Health did not specify where the rest of the facilities will be located, he specified that the necessary equipment is already in the respective territories, where work is being done on the civil part of the works.
The increase in cases of kidney failure in Cuba and the difficulties in transporting patients to provincial capitals to receive treatment are determining factors in the expansion of the hemodialysis network in the country, Jorge Pordieguez assured.
“Patients have to receive the service three times a week. Therefore, these new facilities will mean economy, well-being and quality of life for these people and their families,” the official told Granma newspaper.
The French Development Agency, which has been present in Cuba since 2016, has been a fundamental part of the growth of the National Nephrology Network. In May 2022, the French entity granted a loan that allowed the start-up of 332 hemodialysis machines in 56 health institutions in Cuba, which replaced long-exploitation devices.
According to a report by the EFE news agency, the AFD has been present in Cuba since 2016 and provides assistance to the island in sectors such as health, transportation, water, sanitation, and other fundamental aspects for sustainable development.
