The health of hundreds of dialysis patients in Sicily is at risk. So far, the official requests sent to the regional health department, starting from February, to set up a crisis table with the aim of agreeing an emergency plan against water shortages have all fallen on deaf ears. Now with the increase in temperatures which will lead to the worsening of the drought phenomenon, a further tightening of water supply is likely in many municipalities, where rationing has already started several months ago such as in the Agrigento area, in the Nisseno area, in the Trapani area and in the province of Palermo.
The appeal
In the absence of public coordination, many dialysis centers have been forced to buy water at their own expense at exorbitant costs so as not to abandon their patients in treatment. For each patient the requirement is 1,500 liters of water per service, on average for a center with 40 patients 30 thousand liters of water are needed.
“The institutions don’t listen to us”
“Water is essential for life-saving dialysis performance, we are making enormous efforts. Unfortunately the institutions don’t listen to us. The situation is really serious”, say the president and vice president of the Sicily Dialysis Association, Giuseppe Verde and Livio Marrocco. In Alcamo (Trapani) water is supplied every four days, the situation is also critical in Lercara Friddi, Adrano, Lentini, Sciacca and Ribera. There are approximately 3 thousand patients on dialysis in Sicily. The Association renews its appeal to the Region and the Prefectures: “We must act quickly, the lives of patients are in danger.”
The first 20 million against drought
The first 20 million arrive for the drought emergency in Sicily. This was announced by the President of the Region Renato Schifani, who has just received the communication from the national Civil Protection department. The program prepared by the control room, led by the governor himself and coordinated by the head of the regional civil protection Salvo Cocina, provides for the refunctionalization of wells and springs, the purchase and installation of tankers, the repair of some interconnection networks.
