TEHRAN- The first specialized center using hemodiafiltration as a dialysis method for kidney diseases was inaugurated in Dr Lavasani Hospital in Tehran. 

According to the hospital’s president Seyyed Ali Jamalian, hemodiafiltration therapy will substantially improve the life of patients who need dialysis, IRIB reported on Tuesday. 

In medicine, dialysis is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions naturally. This is referred to as renal replacement therapy.

Hemodiafiltration is a type of dialysis that combines two other methods of dialysis; namely, hemodialysis and hemofiltration. It is thus used to purify the blood from toxins when the kidney is not working normally and also used to treat acute kidney injury (AKI).

It is estimated that, annually, the number of Iranians who receive dialysis grow by three to four thousands, and every round of dialysis costs around 4.5 million rials (around $107) for the healthcare system. 
Jamalian further remarked that the new method was never used in the country before and it would be free of charge, like former dialysis treatments in Iran.

Mehdi Shadnoosh, the director of Transplantation Department at the Ministry of Health also highlighted this event, saying there are around 8,600 people in Iran waiting to receive kidney transplant. Plus, 15 to 16 thousand patients receive dialysis every day.  

It is estimated that, annually, the number of Iranians who receive dialysis grow by three to four thousands, and every round of dialysis costs around 4.5 million rials (around $107) for the healthcare system, said Shadnoosh. 

Kidney transplant and dialysis are free services in Iran, so there must be more focus on teaching people the proper preventive methods such as controlling their high blood pressure and diabetes, he added. 

According to World Health Organization, a 2015 study revealed that, in 2015, 1.2 million people died from kidney failure, an increase of 32% since 2005.

In 2010, an estimated 2.3–7.1 million people with end-stage kidney disease died without access to chronic dialysis. Additionally, each year, around 1.7 million people are thought to die from acute kidney injury. Overall, therefore, an estimated 5–10 million people die annually from kidney disease.

SJ/MG