In a conversation with kidney liver patients at al-Rahma hospital, stories of hopes, fears and struggles reveal the personal side of the fight against kidney failure in Egypt. “The people here are giving us everything we need,” said a 57-year-old retired accountant, Ahmed el-Sharkawy, in a voice overshadowed by the pumping of the dialysis machine hooked up to his arm. Al-Rahma – Arabic for mercy – is a charity hospital in el-Hay el-Sabea – or district 7, one of the constituents of Cairo’s 6th of October City; it is equipped with some half a dozen dialysis machines. Al-Rahma, among similar clinics around Cairo, has become a haven for the country’s kidney failure patients. Egypt ranks number 12, globally, in the number of deaths caused by End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) a late stage of the disease causing a sharp deterioration of the kidney function. A high prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in the country are the main causes of the health issue. However, el-Sharkawy believes that similar cases, referring to people who share the same health condition, have been largely marginalized on both the societal and legislative levels. “We are so many, but no one talks…
In a Conversation with Kidney Failure Patients at al-Rahma Hospital in Cairo
December 19, 2017
