In Istanbul, around 11,000 patients undergo dialysis each day across 92 public, private and university-operated centers.
The Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate reports that these centers employ 313 doctors and 1,024 nurses to provide care.
Dialysis is conducted six days a week in three daily sessions, with patients grouped for approximately four-hour treatments per session.
The daily dialysis capacity across the city reaches around 11,000 patients, and in extraordinary emergency situations, it can increase to nearly 20,000. The Provincial Health Directorate is also working to open new dialysis centers to meet growing demand.
In recent years, dialysis centers have accelerated digitalization efforts. Laboratory results, discharge reports and patient data are now monitored through the web-based Transplantation and Dialysis Data System.
Istanbul Provincial Health Director Abdullah Emre Güner said that chronic kidney failure ranks among the most critical health issues.
He explained that kidneys are essential organs that regulate the body’s water balance and maintain hemodynamic stability, and that life is impossible without functioning kidneys. In cases of acute or chronic kidney failure, dialysis provides vital support to organs when the body cannot meet these needs on its own.
Güner emphasized that chronic kidney failure requires continuous monitoring and treatment, and patients must be regularly followed in terms of dialysis. He noted that some patients need two sessions per week, while others require three or four. Interrupting treatment can have life-threatening consequences.
Güner said that dialysis services for chronic kidney failure patients in Istanbul are provided through public, private and university hospitals. “There are 92 dialysis centers across the city. With the Health Transformation Program, citizens’ access to health care has improved. We now organize patients’ transportation to and from dialysis centers. Patients are picked up from home, receive dialysis treatment, and returned home, with all services provided free of charge,” he said.
He highlighted that preventing chronic kidney failure heavily depends on controlling hypertension and diabetes, as high blood pressure and diabetes are the kidneys’ biggest enemies. Citizens should not skip screenings and checkups conducted by family physicians.
Güner also stressed the importance of healthy lifestyle habits in protecting kidney health, including increasing physical activity, maintaining balanced nutrition and sleep, keeping blood sugar under control for diabetics, and ensuring hypertensive patients follow treatment plans to maintain their blood pressure at target levels.
He added that organ transplantation is the most effective solution for chronic kidney failure, but cadaveric organ donation rates in Türkiye remain low. Organs from brain-dead patients can offer hope to others.
Güner called on citizens to donate organs, explaining that organ donation can be completed at healthcare institutions or easily through the new project developed by Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu via e-Nabız and e-Government platforms.
