KUCHING: Sarawak is still short of haemodialysis (HD) machines to cater for kidney patients in the state, said Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
“Throughout Malaysia, we have 44,136 kidney patients on dialysis with about 8,000 new patients every year.
“In Sarawak, we have 3,544 on dialysis with about 500 new patients every year. Out of that, we recorded about 250 dialysis patient deaths per year.
“This means we still need to look for new dialysis machines for the other 250 to 300 patients,” he said during the handing over of donation cheques to National Kidney Foundation (NKF) at its Dialysis Centre of NKF-KAS/Rotary in Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce here today.
He stressed that with an increase of 300 patients annually, each HD machine can only cater for six patients so there is still a need of 50 more machines every year.
“In NKF dialysis centre in Kuching alone, there are over 100 kidney patients on waiting list. So there is a need for all Sarawakians to do more for our fellow Sarawakians suffering from kidney problem,” he added.
To date, there are 25 government dialysis centres, charging RM13 per HD session. Each kidney patient has to go for treatment thrice a week, with four hours per session.
Meanwhile, the total number of private hospitals providing HD treatment in the state is 12 – Kuching (eight), Miri (two), Sibu and Bintulu (one each). The cost usually ranges from RM200 to RM300 per session.
For dialysis centres operated by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), there are 10 in total – Kuching (five), Sibu (two), while Miri, Bintulu and Serian has one each. The cost usually ranges from RM90 to RM150 per session.
Poor patients can apply to Ministry of Health (MoH) for subsidy worth RM100 per HD treatment.
Dr Sim elaborated that of the 3,544 kidney patients in the state, 3,192 or 90 percent are on HD while 352 or 10 percent are on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD).
“This means 90 percent of kidney failure patients will go to dialysis centres like NKF centre.
“MoH provides 39 percent of HD facilities, while NGOs provide 34 percent and private hospitals – 27 percent.
“This figure of 34 percent HD facilities contributed by NGOs shows that many Sarawakians have good heart in caring for their fellowmen.
“So I want to thank the NGOs such as NKF, Rotary Club of Kuching (RCK), Kidney Association Sarawak (KAS) and medical experts for contributing to this good deed above their own needs,” he added.
