Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Salman, supervisor of Prince Fahd Bin Salman Charity Society For Renal Failure Care, has announced 5,500 higher education opportunities in top Saudi universities for students with renal failure. He made the announcement Tuesday at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah after signing a memorandum of understanding between the Society and six Saudi universities – KAAU and Umm Al-Qura, Taibah, Baha, The Northern Border, and Taif universities. The MoUs would facilitate educational opportunities for boys and girls, except for those universities that do not have girls sections, such as Umm Al-Qura. King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals, which also does not have a girls section, is also included in the program, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The higher education opportunities would be made available at the start of the next academic year. The society plans to form a supervisory committee of specialists in education to help increase the program's reliability and to verify the academic merits of applicants. Citizens are welcome to participate in this charity work. The number of renal failure patients in the Kingdom has risen to 9,356, the Prince said citing a survey. He said KAAU was considering a more advanced scientific survey program to gather accurate information for research into the causes of the disease. A large segment of Saudi society could be susceptible to renal failure due to an increasing rate of diabetes and blood pressure in the population. A committee has been formed to launch a national program to develop renal centers. The Prince said the program has popular support and may be launched this year. The government is keen on activating health education programs. Towards this end, MoUs and agreements have been signed with universities, the ministries of Higher Education, Health and other health institutions, to provide appropriate health education programs for all segments of society – young and old, educated and uneducated – as well as to help detemine the causes of the disease and its prevention. “We now have the nucleus to make a start,” Prince Abdul Aziz said. “Our priorities are to solve the problem of the crowding of patients at dialysis centers and to provide hemodialysis machines to serve those ineligible for dialysis services at government centers.” The Society has started a renal failure patient's care program for renal dialysis, medicines plus medical insurance, he said. The program has benefited about 400 patients so far. Cooperation between private and public health centers in this regard would bring costs down to about SR100,000, covering medicine, health care, dialysis sessions thrice a week, and costs of accommodation and transportation. The Prince said that while the voluntary program is a need, it should not be started unless it can be sustained by taking into account the Society's capabilities. “We will begin to develop awareness programs with universities and with the Ministry of Education, and we hope that these programs will effectively access audiences and benefit recipients.” The Society has concluded six agreements with media organizations, each worth SR 1 million to spread the Society's message. __
