The number of dialysis water testing in the UAE has been increasing over the years, a trend that is attributed to the growth in the number of kidney disease and diabetes patients, said a report.

Prime Certification and Inspection, a sister company of Geoscience Testing Laboratory and the region’s leading quality and compliance solutions provider, reports that the use of their dialysis water testing services by various healthcare centres in the UAE increased by 15 per cent in 2015 over 2014.

Industry estimates show that over 2,000 chronic kidney disease patients are undergoing dialysis in the country and this number increases by 10 to 15 per cent each year.

In the UAE, the rising incidence of kidney failure is primarily linked to the prevalence of diabetes.

Mary Jane Alvero Al Mahdi, the chief executive of Prime Certification and Inspection, said: "We have seen a 15 per cent growth in our dialysis water testing services over the last year both from major government and privately-owned hospitals. This increase can be attributed to the increasing number of kidney disease and diabetic patients in the country."

According to Al Mahdi, treating dialysis patients requires extreme volumes of water. "While a healthy individual would only require a daily water intake of two litres or 14 liters per week, a single dialysis treatment for 4 hours, three times a week, will expose the patient to more than 500 litres of water per week," she stated.

"And because dialysis patients are vulnerable to contaminants in the water used to prepare concentrate and dialysis fluid, the UAE requires that dialysis water is tested up to the highest levels to ensure safety," she pointed out.

With more than 400 qualified staff spread across multiple facilities, the company has one of the largest pools of experts and professionals in the field of testing, inspection, certification, training, and consultancy.

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) 2014 data estimates that there were 803,900 cases of diabetes in UAE.

The country ranks 16th globally and fifth regionally in the occurrence of diabetes, and one in five of the population suffers from the condition.

Sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet as well as low awareness about the disease and the risks involved are considered to be the major factors influencing this healthcare trend, she stated.

The prevalence of other lifestyle diseases in the UAE such as obesity and high blood pressure further contributes to the increasing incidence of end stage renal disease among residents. Such patients require continuous dialysis, the treatment that substitutes for lost function of the kidney, she added.

More dialysis centres have opened in the UAE to cope up with the demand. A number of these dialysis centres have adopted internationally-accredited protocols and standards in providing high-quality dialysis treatment and clinical care to patients.

This is in line with the UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda that aims to achieve a world-class healthcare system, said Al Mahdi.

“In ensuring that highest healthcare standards are employed, various government and private hospitals have been partnering with Prime to implement dialysis water testing including microbiological, chemical and endotoxin analyses,” she added.-TradeArabia News Service