Plan coordinated interventions that provide the possibility for dialysis centers to report cases of water shortage and promptly activate the intervention of the supply services of the Municipalities and the Civil Protection. This is one of the measures proposed by the regional health department at the control room of Palazzo d’Orléans against the water emergency to address possible risks due to the lack of water for those private structures that carry out “life-saving” treatments.
Upon input from the president of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani, a meeting will be held next week with the trade associations that had launched an appeal on the possible risks due to the water crisis. The meeting will be attended by the director of the Department for Strategic Planning of the Department of Health, Salvatore Iacolino, and the head of the regional Civil Protection, Salvatore Cocina, as technical coordinator of the control room against drought established at the Presidency.
“There are no risks at the moment”
However, the Department of Health underlines that, although the current emergency may also represent a critical issue in the healthcare sector, there is currently no real risk of interrupting activities, given that, as “life-saving” treatments, the legislation provides for dialysis centers the presence of tanks with adequate capacity for the number of artificial kidneys declared, which can be replenished from outside in case of water shortage in order to ensure the possibility of intervention at any time. A circumstance that already occasionally occurs in Sicily in the summer months.
“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”, said the president and vice president of the Sicily Dialysis Association, Giuseppe Verde and Livio Marrocco, a few days ago. 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.”
