Increase in kidney patients worrying, says assistant minister

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MIRI: When the MRC Kidney Dialysis Centre opened its doors in 1996, it only had 10 patients. Today, the figure has skyrocketed to 214.

Its chairman Datuk Lee Kim Shin, who is also Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communication, said the rapid increase had heaped two key pressures on the centre which is run and managed by the Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC) here.

The increase in number of patients meant that the expenditure in running the centre, which was expanded last year at a cost of RM3 million to accommodate 400 patients, had also increased substantially.

“Almost 90 per cent of the patients are from the low income group and they need assistance in terms of treatment.

“Kidney dialysis is very costly. If they (patients) go to a private medical centre, it would cost them around RM2,000 to RM3,000 a month. The individuals who come to our centre depended very much on assistance from the government and community at large.”

Lee said this at the prize presentation of `Dynasty Hotel Charity Run’ here yesterday. The annual charity run is organised in aid of the centre which now has 78 dialysis machines. It formed part of the hotel’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes. He told the gathering of runners that most renal failures were due to diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

That exerts quite a substantial burden on the centre to continually organise health-related activities, such as securing the assistance of local and foreign experts to talk about health from time to time.

Lee said the centre felt fortunate to have bodies such as Dynasty Hotel around as it never failed to give a helping hand to ease the responsibilities they were shouldering.

He added that the hotel’s effort had certainly complemented the government’s initiatives to help the less fortunate people.

Among those present were Sibuti MP Ahmad Lai Bujang, Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau and the hotel’s general manager Tony Pui.

Two hundred and eighty runners, including 24 special children from Pibakis, took part in the  run which managed to raised RM78,000. After the run, Lee topped it up to RM80,000.