BY LOH FOON FONG
Published: Thursday November 7, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Friday November 8, 2013 MYT 9:37:24 AM
Updated: Friday November 8, 2013 MYT 9:37:24 AM
Saving lives: The Fo Yi-NKF Dialysis Centre in George Town, Penang. There is an estimated 5,000 new kidney patients each year requiring haemodialysis.
KUALA LUMPUR: Thousands of kidney patients are facing a tough time as the Health Ministry has not approved subsidies for haemodialysis treatment thus far this year. Some are reported to have waited for as long as three years for the nod.
The number of approvals for the RM600 monthly subsidy began to decrease in 2011, and became minimal from mid-2012.
NGO-run haemodialysis centres said they were told by the Health Minitry to source for funds elsewhere as it was focusing on new patients.
They also said that some patients had waited for the subsidy approval for as long as three years, instead of the usual one to three months.
In Malaysia, the poor receive heavily subsidised dialysis treatment but due to the shortage of government-run centres many turned to those managed by non-profit NGOs.
Through these NGO-run centres they could apply for RM600 dialysis subsidy (RM50 per dialysis) per month and free injections.
A random check revealed that the National Kidney Foundation had 200 patients still waiting for subsidy, 50 patients in St John’s Pt Selangor in Klang, 40 in dialysis centres run by a religious body that declined to be named, 22 at Pontian Rotary Haemodialysis Centre, and five patients in KL Lions Renal Centre.
The actual number of the affected poor was not known but it could be in the thousands going by the estimated 5,000 new kidney patients diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure each year in the last three years.
Patients affected appear to be from NGO haemodialysis centres as those in private and government dialysis centres did not have to deal with subsidy applications.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, treatment for a patient who undergoes haemodialysis at an NGO or a private clinic costs between RM150 and RM250 per session.
The Malaysian Registry of Dialysis and Transplants said that as many as 7,088 (26.9%) end-stage renal failure patients had haemodialysis treatment at NGO centres out of 26,404 patients receiving dialysis treatment last year.
The remaining 13,159 patients (49.8%) sought treatment at private dialysis centres and 6,157 patients (23.3%) at public facilities under the Health Ministry, university hospitals and Defence Ministry hospitals.
A nurse who declined to be named said that Muslims had less issues with getting the subsidy as they could apply for aid from the Baitumal or zakat foundation.
Some NGO haemodialysis centres were not happy that the Government had pushed patients to them without providing the needed subsidy.
The halt in subsidy was also depleting the rolling fund of the centres since some NGOs help to pay for their patients’ dialysis treatments, a dialysis centre manager said.
“If they make it difficult for patients to get the subsidy, they should just get the patients to do it at government dialysis centres,” she said, adding that such centres were limited.
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I'm afraid I'll die without the money, says kidney patient
PETALING JAYA: Former tombstone engraver Foo Kwai Wah, whose kidneys failed early this year, has exhausted all his savings and is worried about whether he can continue with dialysis treatment.
Foo, 57, whose wife died in 1999 during child delivery, said he had been waiting for government subsidy for dialysis treatment, which included RM600 per month plus free injections, since March 21 and sought aid from NGOs.
“I am afraid that without government subsidy, I will die because I have no more funds,” he said, adding that he had to support two teenage children who were still studying.
At RM100 per session at the National Kidney Foundation, Foo said the dialysis cost him RM1,300 per month while injections cost RM325.
Although an NGO gave him RM500 a month, he still has to pay RM1,125.
He hoped the Government would use the funds from abolishing the sugar subsidy to help patients like him.
Foo also appealed to corporations to contribute funds to poor patients.
Housewife Ng Lai Leng, 44, from Selayang, has been on dialysis since July last year and has been waiting for government subsidy since Nov 8 last year.
Her husband Wong Kok Chai, a vegetable seller, said he earned RM2,500 a month and it was difficult to make ends meet especially now that his business was not doing well.
“My wife feels sad about the long wait,” said Wong who spoke on behalf of Ng, who cannot speak Malay or English.
A dialysis centre manager, who declined to be named, said the extra medical costs were a burden to the lower income group and some couples had got into heated arguments over the lack of funds.
Selangor state commander of St John Ambulance Malaysia Datuk Burnard Yeo said SJAM had persuaded some donors to sponsor poor patients while waiting for government subsidy to be approved.
“Some of these patients are jobless and cannot even pay for their rentals,” he said adding that the Health Ministry had informed them that it did not have enough funds.
“Some patients even wanted to cut the treatment to only once a week, but we discourage them from doing so as it could lead to complications or death,” he said.
(Please note that the average cost for each NGO dialysis is RM150. For private sector is RM250. In the usual scenario for NGO-run haemodialysis centre, RM50 for each treatment is absorbed by NGO, RM100 paid by patients and if they could not afford it, they could get RM50 subsidy from the Government, hence, they only pay RM50)
New kidney patients get priority for the RM600 aid
PETALING JAYA: New kidney patients will be given priority for the RM600 monthly subsidy for haemodialysis treatment, the Health Ministry said.
“Our pool of funds is focused towards new patients as they have never had treatment and may require dialysis urgently,” said Health director general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
However, he added, patients already undergoing haemodialysis would not be neglected and would be given assistance as announced in Budget 2014.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had announced free treatment kits, or Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis costing RM19,000 each for patients with end stage kidney failure to enable them to do the treatment at their own home.
An estimated 5,000 new kidney patients were diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure each year over the last three years, with 26.9% likely to be seeking treatment from 53 NGO centres. On average, half the patients needed subsidy from the Government.
Dr Noor Hisham told The Star that the ministry was reviewing its funding for haemodialysis treatment to make it more cost effective, among other reasons.
“Although our budget allocation increased this year, emoluments are taking up the bulk of it.
“Our development allocation has decreased from RM1.6bil last year to RM1.3bil this year to make way for the emoluments, such as employing more doctors,” he added.
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