KUALA LUMPUR: Media Prima Bhd (MPB) today donated six dialysis machines to the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia (NKF) to benefit chronic kidney disease patients receiving treatments at NKF’s new dialysis centres in Selangor and Sarawak.
The dialysis machines, worth RM276,000, was an allocation from the Media Prima-NSTP Humanitarian Fund in which the monies were raised from the generous public via MPB’s media platforms.
The fund was initially established to enable the caring public to do their bid to help the needy by offering financial assistance to individuals who could not afford medical treatments. The scope has been expanded to embrace other causes including aid to victims of poverty, disasters as well as wars or political conflicts.
The dialysis machines were handed over by MPB group corporate communications general manager Azlan Abdul Aziz to NKF chief executive officer Chua Hong Wee at a plaque-placing ceremony held at NKF in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Azlan said MPB were constantly heartened by the society’s generosity in lending a helping hand to those in need through the humanitarian fund.
“We are touched by the caring public’s concern and generosity and would like to thank them for their contributions. We hope the six dialysis machines will benefit more kidney patients in Selangor and Sarawak.
“We also hope more will contribute to the fund so that we can continue to answer the plights of those facing hardships or the underprivileged,” he said.
Chua said NKF currently subsidises the cost of dialysis treatments for 1,600 patients in 26 dialysis centres nationwide.
“The machines we receive from this humanitarian fund will certainly help ease the burden of more patients, besides giving them a better quality of life,” he said.
He said approximately 7,000 Malaysians are diagnosed with kidney failure every year. Diabetes is the main cause of the condition, with 61 per cent of new dialysis patients are diabetics.