Dialysis patients in Gaza.. living on the edge of death

For kidney failure patients in Gaza, missing a dialysis session doesn’t just mean a change in the hospital schedule; it could mean a buildup of toxins and fluids in their body, leading to a chain of complications that could end in death.

With shortages of supplies, medicines, and fuel, as well as broken equipment and difficulties reaching hospitals, hundreds of patients are living from one session to the next, unsure if the life-saving treatment will still be available next week.

The latest chapter of this crisis appeared at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, which warned that not allowing the entry of Bibag supplies threatens the continuation of dialysis services, as it’s considered essential for operating the dialysis machines. Meanwhile, kidney failure patients can’t postpone or skip their sessions without facing potentially deadly health consequences.

This threat comes at a time when the World Health Organization confirms that kidney patients in Gaza still struggle to get regular dialysis sessions due to restrictions facing the health sector and shortages of medicines, equipment, and medical supplies.

The organization’s director general said on September 24 that one of the direct consequences of the current health situation is that there are kidney patients who can’t access regular dialysis. About 700 patients with end-stage kidney failure in the Gaza Strip need three sessions a week on a regular basis, each lasting around four hours under normal treatment conditions, and cutting down the number of sessions or their duration increases the risk of complications that could lead to death.