Turkish doctors work to help kidney patients in Lebanon

 Working in connection with Doctors Without Borders, Doctors Dilaver Erbilgin, Doctor Mehmet Sukru, and Turkish Kidney Foundation President Timur Erk have organized transfers of medical goods to the Lebanese capital over the last week, with a special focus on children with kidney ailments.

Doctor Suku explains:
 
"We decided to make a life chain for the children with kidneys ailments in Lebanon. I spoke with Timur Erk, the head of the Turkish Kidney Foundation. We explored all the options available to the foundation. We collected materials from Turkey. We got together 5 tons of dialysis water, filters, injection needles, and other technical aspects of dialysis machines. On Wednesday morning, we organized everything we were sending at the Mersin port. We have been in contact from the very beginning of this effort with Foreign Ministry representatives and with the Turkish Ambassador to Beirut, Irfan Acar. They were afraid of having the materials sent on civilian boats. Finally, on Friday morning, we sent off the materials on a Turkish ship. Our 5 day nightmare had come to an end."

Timur Erk notes that 30 Lebanese children who are in the worst shape are going to be brought to Turkey for kidney treatment, and that arrangements have been made already with the Turkish Red Crescent organization to carry this out.

3,000 patients would have died in 5 days
 
Doctor Erbilgin says that he is happy about the transfer of aid to Lebanon, but notes that the number of kidney patient in Lebanon is very high, around 3,000. He says "You have to understand, it is not only children....half of them are in the south of the country. None of the health facilities in the south of Lebanon are now working. The patients there are walking towards the north of the country. The dialysis centers in the north are beginning to fill up. If the materials from Turkey had not gotten there in time, 3 thousand patients would have died within 5 days."