Renal replacement therapy for refugees with end-stage kidney disease: an international survey of the nephrological community

Hemodialysis Experience of a Large Group of Syrian Refugees in Turkey: All Patients Deserve Effective Treatment

“…Three countries in the field, namely Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan accepted the largest number of refugees up to now. A recent survey conducted by ISN reported 631 refugees were dialyzed in the 298 centers responding to the survey [15]. Thirty-three centers reported to refuse dialysis to at least one refugee.…”

“…Thirty-three centers reported to refuse dialysis to at least one refugee. There was a center which reported that they refused about 250 patients due to lack of resources which is the main cause of refusal by other centers too [15]. …”

“…Undocumented immigrants in USA are ineligible for federally funded government programs like Medicare and non-emergency Medicaid [3]. The recent report by Van Biesen et al [15] has documented the problems encountered in dialyzing refugees by a survey in 298 individual dialysis centers from 45 countries. These centers had dialyzed 631 refugees in the 4 months before the survey.…”

“…One center in Western Europe declined 25 refugee patients (but accepted 25 others) as the cost was to be supported by the nephrology department. Other centers reporting high refusal rates stated that they had requested patients to pay for their treatment [15]. …”

“…The difference may be related both the young age of Syrian refugees and short time span of dialysis in Turkey. The low mortality rate is still important regarding the many difficulties encountered in dialyzing refugees [15]. Complete reimbursement of the HD procedure and medications may benefit refugees for having adequate dialysis and low mortality rate.…”