Marie-Rose - 2-1-2008 at 07:02 PM
This email was sent to me by way of a social worker who works in the Renal unit of our
hospital in Victoria. The writer gave me permission to post and hopes that someone in the Tijuana area might be able to help.
I have phone numbers, names and email addresses and if anyone has any ideas I could pass on I would be grateful. Thanks in advance!
Here's the letter...
> . I am writing because I have a friend in Tijuana Mexico who is 19 and was diagnosed with renal insufficiency in October at which time he
was started on dialysis. This family is very poor and his mother has just sold her house and all of her possessions to pay the $400/week dialysis fee.
He is a candidate for a kidney transplant in Fe> bruary but there is no way that they can come up with the money as it will cost $20,000 US. While
I was visiting over the New Year his mother asked if there was anything we could do to help with the priviledge we have as Canadians.
So I am writing to see if you have any ideas as to how I could help this young man battle kidney failure. Do you know if there are any sponsorship
programs that might help? His mother specifically asked if there was anyway I could get her EPO cheaper in Canada and I tried to explain how our
health care was different and we can't just buy drugs like that at our local pharmacy.
Is there any program for expired drugs such as EPO or venofer that could be sent to third world clinics to help people who can't afford these
drugs?
Maybe you know how I could contact the pharmaceutical companies that supply these drugs to ask them for help.
I have all this boy's medical consults and costs for individual meds as he has to pay for them and information regarding the Baja Renal Dialysis
Clinic in Tijuana that he has been dialysing at, so I could easily set up something to send meds to the clinic.
Or, if perhaps you think one of the renal Docs might be willing to help by offering a consult with ideas to kick start his kidneys as the quality
of renal medicine in Mexico is still quite primative.
If you have any suggestions please let me know ASAP as he has already missed several dialysis appointments and is becoming very sick.
I have talked to the transplant society but they hadn't much for suggestions.
[Edited on 2008-2-2 by Marie-Rose]