The theme for this year’s World Kidney Day is “Kidney Health for All: Preparing for the Unexpected, Supporting the Vulnerable!”. At Nipro, “We Care” is one of our company values and we believe that together, we can all "Live Longer. Live Better." When the earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria recently, Nipro rallied and showed that we can, and do, support the vulnerable. Read here below about the first-hand experience of our Nipro Medical Turkey team in this catastrophic disaster, as told by Ismet Akgun, Country Manager:
How could we know when we went to bed on the night of the 5th of February that we would wake up to a great disaster the next morning?
At 4:17am on Monday, February 6, 2023, we woke up to a terrible earthquake in Turkey. While the epicenter was at Kahramanmaras, the impact was felt across 10 cities in the country, including where we, members of the Nipro team, lived. By noon, we realized the severity of the earthquake, and also the disaster it had created.
Unfortunately, another terrible earthquake occurred that very afternoon. People's pain, desperation, and cries for help left irreparable, deep wounds inside us.
We immediately reached out to Diyamer, an association for private dialysis centers, and exchanged ideas about what we could do for people who were helpless due to this terrible natural disaster. We learnt from our customers and doctors how they were impacted by the earthquake. It allowed us to assess what we could do as a company to provide help. Additionally, the team here collected some money to buy clothes that we sent to the people living in the areas affected by the earthquake.
By the second day after the earthquake, Nipro Medical Turkey made a cash donation to one of the non-governmental organizations (AHBAP) who was already involved in helping and supporting the earthquake victims in the region.
We were also informed that among the earthquake victims - especially the children rescued from the rubble – there were those who had kidney problems and hence, pediatric as well as adult dialyzers were needed. Nipro Medical Turkey has donated pediatric and adult dialyzers, arterial vein sets, and arterial vein fistula needles to 6 hospitals located in the earthquake zone by our own means.
According to the official statements, until today, approximately 45,000 people lost their lives, and 18,200 buildings have been destroyed due to the earthquake. However, there is no official data on the number of people trapped under the debris.
As one Nipro family, we have done our best to help the people affected by the earthquake, based on our philosophy of "Live Longer. Live Better.", and we will continue to do so.
