Thanks for downloading this edition of assignment from the BBC World Service.

My name's Ed Butler.

I'd heard that there was something of a medical emergency, a wider crisis in Egypt, and

I wanted to investigate but even with all the upheaval

that I'd seen in that country before the Mubarak years the Arab Spring people were

telling me that this time they had never seen a situation this bad.

It really was quite something.

See what you think.

The kid... The Kidney Dialysis Ward at Cairo's University Pediatric Hospital,

providing care for some critically ill children,ushing through a crowd of anxious parents clamoring for her attention

is the hospital's director, Dr Rasha Amar.

It is the most stressful area here.

It's by far the most stressful area.

We are limited with the number of beds that we have.

Welcome to assignment on the BBC World Service.

I'm Ed Butler, and I'm in Egypt today to find out about a growing medical crisis that's affecting not just this hospital but the country as a whole.

Dr. Omar's colleague in the dialysis unit,

Patina Fodal says there's now a chronic shortage of blood filters.

You have supplies which might work for the coming two weeks after that we are waiting for a miracle to get more

shelters for them.

You're waiting for a miracle?

Actually yes.

...