KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry is mulling to enhance the MySejahtera application feature, by allowing Malaysians to sign up as organ donors.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said this is because there has been a decrease in the rate of organ donation in the country amid an increasing number of patients requiring transplants, such as kidney transplants.
Kidney disease, he said is fast becoming a major burden globally, including in Malaysia.
"Kidney disease is a common but silent and often under-recognised condition. The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in our country has increased from 9.1 per cent in the 2011 National Health and Morbidity survey to 15.5 per cent in 2018.
"If left untreated, it can lead to End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD). This is directly related to the high prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and obesity in our population," he said in his speech at the launch of the 16th National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia Annual Dialysis Conference 2022, themed "Holistic Care in Dialysis" in Petaling Jaya today.
Khairy noted that the incidence and prevalence of treated ESKD have also risen markedly over the last 25 years.
The Malaysian Dialysis and Transplant Registry, he said reported that 7,967 new patients received dialysis in 2015 and by the end of 2016 there were 39,711 patients on dialysis.
If the present trend continues unchecked, the number of ESKD patients is estimated to reach 106,000 in 2040, he cautioned.
"This burden will cost the health care system an estimated RM1.5 billion and RM3.2 billion respectively.
"Currently, approximately 8,000 new patients are diagnosed with ESKD annually and most of these patients have to undergo dialysis.
"This makes Malaysia one of the highest in the world with ESKD per million population."
Khairy said ESKD in Malaysia also affects the younger age group and this leads to a loss of livelihood as well as economic contribution to the country.
One of the ways to combat this, he said was to increase awareness of kidney disease and prevent its onset and its complications.
"Similar to preventing the onset of other major diseases, we only have to live a healthy lifestyle, eat well, exercise, avoid any unlicensed product or supplements, avoid stress and don't smoke.
"If a person is unfortunate to get ESKD, it is important that they maintain a healthy lifestyle and learn to live well with dialysis."
Besides dialysis and prevention, Khairy said another option for ESKD is a kidney transplant.
"However, the rate of organ donation and transplantation in Malaysia is one of the lowest in the world and thus people on dialysis will unfortunately never get a transplant.
"The ministry is therefore looking into using MySejahtera as an application to make it easier for Malaysians to pledge to agree to donate their organs," he added.
Khairy advised those with risk factors for getting kidney disease to perform regular tests, and seek treatment from kidney specialists or nephrologists.