Skip to content
Anera
  • Who We Are
    • Column1
      • About Us
      • Our Staff
      • Anera FAQ
    • Column2
      • Resources
      • 2020 Annual Report
      • Contact Us
  • Where We Work
    • Column1
      • Gaza
      • West Bank
      • Lebanon
      • Jordan
  • What We Do
    • Column1
      • Agriculture
      • Health
      • Community
      • Education
    • Column2
      • Water
      • Emergency
      • Our Priorities
      • Stories
  • How to Help
    • Column1
      • Fundraise
      • Attend an Event
      • Sign Up for Texts
      • Donor Portal
    • Column2
      • Give Monthly
      • More Ways to Give
      • Zakat Giving
      • Anera Leadership Circle
  • Videos
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
    • Zakat Giving
    • More Ways to Give
Anera
  • Who We Are
    • Column1
      • About Us
      • Our Staff
      • Anera FAQ
    • Column2
      • Resources
      • 2020 Annual Report
      • Contact Us
  • Where We Work
    • Column1
      • Gaza
      • West Bank
      • Lebanon
      • Jordan
  • What We Do
    • Column1
      • Agriculture
      • Health
      • Community
      • Education
    • Column2
      • Water
      • Emergency
      • Our Priorities
      • Stories
  • How to Help
    • Column1
      • Fundraise
      • Attend an Event
      • Sign Up for Texts
      • Donor Portal
    • Column2
      • Give Monthly
      • More Ways to Give
      • Zakat Giving
      • Anera Leadership Circle
  • Videos
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
    • Zakat Giving
    • More Ways to Give
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
  • Where We Work
  • How to Help
  • Resources
  • Success Stories
  • Videos
  • Blog
Donate
HEALTH

Dialysis Patients Caught in the Middle During Pandemic

Medical donations offer life-saving support to patients amid failing healthcare system

Following a year of simultaneous crises, Lebanon’s weak healthcare system is under severe strain. The government and the country’s highly privatized healthcare system have failed to maintain public health amid a collapsing economy and the spreading pandemic.

Inadequate funding for healthcare has left both health workers and the majority of the population dangerously vulnerable. Even private hospitals are experiencing shortages. International support has become critical to helping ensure patients receive the care they need.

To help address these needs, Heart to Heart International has generously donated life-saving cancer medicines, mental health medications, and healthcare items in short supply like incontinence pads and PPE. Transportation for the shipment was provided by Airlink. Anera is distributing the supplies to hospitals and health clinics across Lebanon.

Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut, one of the leading medical institutions in the country, is hardly immune from the shortages felt throughout Lebanon. Kidney disease patients needing dialysis have been particularly impacted by COVID-19. Samer Olabi, a pharmacist at the hospital, explains,

“Dialysis patients and all those hospitalized because of coronavirus at Rafik Hariri University Hospital are on a medication that often runs out in Lebanon. The high demand for pain-relief medicines for coronavirus means we are constantly struggling to keep it in stock. Without such medicines, the patients suffer greatly.”

Anera, in partnership with Heart to Heart International, has taken direct action to mitigate this public health disaster for dialysis patients by distributing the anticoagulant medication heparin to medical facilities.

Lina Atat, who manages the medical donations program for Anera in Lebanon, says, “Heparin is highly needed.” She says that it is “usually used for dialysis treatments as a prophylaxis against blood clots.” Now, she says,

“It has recently come into use for hospitalized COVID patients as a cheaper alternative to another medication.”

Because dialysis treatments are extremely expensive in Lebanon, kidney diseases are often left untreated. Without regular treatment and medical supervision, many of these patients face serious organ failure and eventually death.

The financial strain on public and private hospitals alike has forced some to halt certain treatments in order to sustain others. For example, all operations in a neonatal unit might be deferred to prioritize high-risk dialysis patients.

Olabi says,

“The heparin we received was crucial for our hospital, and we were even able to utilize it when other medicines were unavailable.”

Samer Aolbi, a pharmacist at Rafik Hariri University Hospital.
Samer Aolbi, a pharmacist at Rafik Hariri University Hospital.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions in the country, Anera was unable to interview dialysis patients or their relatives for this story.

SHARE THIS STORY

Related Stories

Roba holding infant child.

Aid for Families in Need in Beirut’s Armenian Neighborhood

Read More →
Two schoolchildren with the donated educational and hygiene supplies.

School and Hygiene Supplies Help Ensure No One is Left Behind

Read More →

More About Anera

Anera addresses the development and relief needs of refugees and vulnerable communities in Palestine and Lebanon. 

Anera is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (tax-ID number 52-0882226). Your gift is secure and tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Contact Us

WHO WE ARE

Site Map

  • Who We Are
  • Where We Work
  • What We Do
  • How to Help
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Stories
  • Join Our Team

Join Us

Learn how you can help hope find a way in Palestine and Lebanon.

Follow Us on Social Media

What's your resolution?

If estate planning is part of your resolutions this year, check out our easy-to-use tool, FreeWill. There's no better time than the new year to create a legacy of hope that protects what you value most.

CREATE YOUR LEGAL WILL IN 20 MINUTES

If you've already included Anera in your will, please email anera@anera.org so that we can share exclusive Legacy Society benefits with you.

© Anera, 2020 | Print This Page | Site Credit
  • FAQ
  • TRUSTED & RESPECTED
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SITE MAP