KOTA KINABALU: The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Malaysia will set up a dialysis centre in Tawau by the end of this year and plans to build another in Menggatal next year.
Its board of directors chairman, Datuk Dr Zaki Morad Mohd Zaher, said the decision to set up a dialysis centre in these areas was based on the high demand for the service.
“The NKF and Sabah Islamic Religious Council (MUIS) are currently discussing to get approval from the relevant ministry to set up a dialysis centre in Tawau.
“This is to make it easier for patients to receive treatment,” he said after the opening of a forum on ‘Improving Your Quality of Life’ organised by NKF here yesterday.
Dr Zaki Morad said Sabah only had two dialysis centres, namely in Kota Kinabalu with 11 dialysis machines treating 66 patients and in Sandakan with 12 machines treating 14 patients.
“Sabah is among the states where there is still lack of facilities for dialysis treatment,” he added.
Earlier, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the number of patients with end-stage kidney failure was increasing each year in the state, with many of them requiring financial assistance and other welfare services from time to time.
He said this in his speech which was read by Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, Datuk Edward Yong Oui Fah.
Musa said the government provided aid and support to lighten the burden of kidney disease patients by channelling funds to the government’s dialysis centres and those run by non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
He said government agencies like MUIS, Public Service Department and Social Security Organisation (Socso) also provided subsidies to patients at the NGO-run dialysis centres. — Bernama