On 20 March 2012, a bailiff went on the order of the president of the court of first instance in Essaouira to the haemodialysis centre to carry out an observation report regarding the complaint filed by the Sidi Megdoul Association for patients with kidney failure, subject of file No. 273/2012.

Arriving on site at 5 p.m., the bailiff noted in his report having found two patients, a woman and a man, pale and exhausted, who declared to him that they had been waiting for a session since 7 a.m. Unfortunately, the two patients state, the doctor in charge refused them their right to vital care, even though they had already paid the price of the session to the Sidi Megdoul Association for patients with kidney failure. The bailiff's report cites a statement from an official of the Association present on site, who affirms that there is no reason to justify the doctor's decision since there are still five haemodialysis machines available to provide care to the patients. This report reflects the background of the conflict that has been opposing the Sidi Megdoul Association for patients with kidney failure on one hand, and the delegate of the Ministry of Health on the other, for several months.

"It is inconceivable to continue to reject requests for care made by patients with kidney failure who have the means to pay for the sessions. Several patients can no longer bear the travel to other cities. Why then deprive them of this possibility as long as there is a way to meet their request with the existing means of the haemodialysis centre?", a member of the Association's board declared to us in reaction to the position of the delegate of the Ministry of Public Health, who refused access to care at the centre to patients who have the means to pay for the sessions.

A deadlock that has lasted for months, causing misery and threatening the lives of several patients with kidney failure.

The haemodialysis centre in Essaouira is managed by the Sidi Megdoul Association in partnership with the Ministry of Public Health.

Created thanks to patrons and local goodwill, the centre has always provided free haemodialysis sessions to its needy patients who depend on its services. Subsequently, it turned out that there are other cases who have the means to pay for the sessions but prefer to receive care in Essaouira because they can no longer bear the ordeal of travel, which occurs at a rate of two to three times a week sometimes. Admittedly, the board of the Sidi Megdoul Association had reacted favourably to this situation by granting these patients access to care at the centre for the price set by law, but the delegation of the Ministry of Health has always opposed this decision, which is supposed to save lives and, in turn, strengthen the Association's means of intervention.

Two contradictory positions that have pushed the Association to resort to the justice system to defend its autonomy and ensure its decisions are respected on one hand, and on the other hand, to save the lives of several patients threatened by death while waiting for a session at the haemodialysis centre.

43 patients from the various communes of the Essaouira province regularly benefit from the services of the Essaouira haemodialysis centre, while 61 others are still on the waiting list for admission or death.

We tried to contact the delegate of the Ministry of Health for further clarification, but in vain.