Fatimah (left) presents the mock cheque to Nur-Afiq. Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING: Sarawak recorded 3,317 kidney patients with 2,920 of them undergoing hemodialysis based on the 2018 data from the state Health Department, said Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
The Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhoold Development said while 275 of them underwent Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD), 122 others had undergone kidney transplants.
“Of the total that are receiving hemodialysis treatment, 1,183 patients have theirs at government hemodialysis centres, 702 patients go to private hemodialysis centres and 1,035 patients at hemodialysis centres operated by non-governmental organisations (NGOs),” she said at the state Welfare Department head office here today.
She handed over a special aid worth RM17,556 to kidney patient Muhd Nur-Afiq Rambli during the event.
According to Fatimah, among the major causes of kidney failure are diabetes, hypertension and obesity.
She said 65 per cent of those undergoing dialysis treatment were also diabetic.
“Hemodialysis treatment takes not more than five hours and is conducted three times a week. For CAPD, it is four times a day.”
In Sarawak alone, she said there were 45 hemodialysis centres. Of these, 25 hemodialysis centres are operated by the Ministry of Health (MoH), 11 by the private sector and nine by the NGOs.
Under the MoH, there were 314 hemodialysis machines and 112 of them had been in use for more than eight years, and needed replacement, she pointed out.
She was pleased to note that MoH had been granted RM6 million a year for the replacement of hemodialysis machines throughout the country.
She added that private hemodialysis centres had 333 hemodialysis machines while those operated by NGOs had 30 hemodialysis machines.
“The majority of these treatment centres operate on three shifts a day and a machine is capable of treating five to six patients per shift.”
Fatimah said Sarawak had seven nephrology specialists, recording a nephrologist-patient ratio at 1:338 compared to the national ratio at 1:237.
At the national level, she said 31 per cent of patients received hemodialysis treatment at government facilities while 21 per cent had treatment at those operated by NGOs and 48 per cent at private ones.
“In Sarawak, 46 per cent kidney patients receive their hemodialysis treatment at government centres because the treatment cost is lower at RM13 per treatment session, 32 per cent of the patients at treatment centres operated by NGOs and 22 per cent patients at private treatment centres,” she added.