Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah
KUCHING: The Sarawak Welfare Department has received 27 applications for kidney treatment as of February this year and from the number 13 applications have been approved involving expenditure of RM379,080, says Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
She said the assistance was an initiative of the state government to help alleviate the burden of kidney patients who require treatment.
The assistance include clinical, supportive, and machines.
Clinical assistance refers to Arteriovenous Fistula (AVF) installation, Erythropoietin (EPO) injection, Haemodialysis treatment and Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD).
Support assistance refers to machine, transportation and transplant while machine assistance refers to haemodialysis machines centres placed at government hospitals and clinics but does not include costs of (machine) maintenance.
Fatimah said this in conjunction with World Kidney Day yesterday.
According to Sarawak Health Department’s record in 2020 there were 3,665 kidney patients in the state.
From the number, 3,192 have undergone haemodialysis treatment, CAPD (352) and the rest (121) have undergone kidney transplant and are now under observation.
Fatimah added: “Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) has become one of the most prevalent public health problems in Malaysia, according to recent studies conducted by local health experts, with increased prevalence and low awareness.”
According to their studies, the prevalence of CKD has risen in less than a decade, from 9.1 per cent in 2011 to 15.5 per cent in 2018.
About five per cent of people with CKD are not even aware they have it (kidney disease).
Sixty-six applications of kidney patients for assistance, meanwhile, were received and approved in 2020, which incurred an expenditure totalling RM420,452.
In Sarawak, the CKD scenario according to the 26th Report of the Malaysian Dialysis and Transplant Registry 2018, treatment rates for end-stage renal failure in 2017 was 174 people per million.
In 2018, Sarawak came in second place after Sabah/Labuan (115 per million population) compared to the national treatment rate of 260 per million population.
Fatimah added that the rate of degradation of kidney functions could be substantially delayed if detected early and treated properly.
Patients can also go years without dialysis with little chance of complications.
“Don’t opt for non-medical advice and opinions through social media in the hopes of finding a cure.
“Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) – Sarawak Kidney Association/Rotary (Kuching) and Malaysian Diabetes Association (PDM) Sarawak Branch are advised to continue to play an active role in raising public awareness about CKD and educating patients and caregivers about how to treat the disease,” she said.
Kidney treatment application forms are available at the Welfare Dept, Resident’s and District offices, as well as government hospitals and clinics.
Completed forms and supporting documents should be submitted to the divisional Welfare Dept office.
The post Fatimah: 13 out of 27 applications for kidney treatment approved appeared first on Borneo Post Online.