KUALA LUMPUR: The number of end stage kidney failure (ESKF) patients is expected to rise to 50,000 by the year 2020 says National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Malaysia president Tan Sri Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman.
He said NKF had recently lowered dialysis fees at their centre from RM100 to RM90 per treatment for non-sponsored patients.
“However, we will need a better and fair funding system to ensure a sustainable future,” he said yesterday in a welcoming speech at the National Seminar on Funding of Haemodialysis Treatment.
Abu Bakar added that there were 234 patients on dialysis per million populations last year as compared to 119 in 2005.
There were 34,767 patients last year who received treatment in centres across the country with 60 to 70 per cent of them being fully or partially funded by the government while the rest were assisted by various non-profit organisations including NKF Malaysia.
Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa said the number of kidney-related disease cases had been on an alarming rise, with over 5,000 new cases of chronic kidney disease requiring dialysis reported yearly.
The cost of treatment, he said was also expected to rise and while current funding strategies had served well, new methods might be necessary for the future.
“Diabetes is now a major health problem and also the most common cause of kidney failure. Controlling it more aggressively may prevent or delay kidney failure,” Ali Hamsa said before launching the event.
He said kidney patients needed dialysis treatments as many as three times a month and the cost would build up to be quite a burden.
“Various government bodies have been providing treatment for them and treatment grants to non-governmental organisations for years but the current funding system will need to be looked into to address growing concerns,” he said.
Health ministry deputy Director-General Datuk Dr Jeyaindran Tan Sri Sinnadurai said in line with the eleventh Malaysia Plan, the ministry was aiming to increase awareness on individual health management among the public to reduce the number of kidney failure cases.
"In the world ranking of diabetes as a cause of kidney failure, we are number two just behind Singapore," he said adding that this was also due to the carbohydrate-dependent diet that most Malaysians have.
Meanwhile Health ministry head of Nephrology Service Datuk Tan Chwee Hoon to stabilise and reduce the number of dialysis patients, organ donation should be promoted.
“In many developed countries, dialysis is seen as a waiting period to get a transplant. In Malaysia, we have to depend on more dialysis centres because the organ donation rate is rather low,” he said.