KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Health provides nearly full subsidies for dialysis treatment to underprivileged patients, covering up to RM1,630.50 monthly.
Deputy Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni stated that patients only pay a nominal fee of RM10 per month at 138 MOH-recognised NGO dialysis centres.
Each haemodialysis session receives a RM100 subsidy for up to 14 sessions monthly, plus erythropoietin injections valued at RM18.50 each for up to 13 injections.
The total treatment cost per patient amounts to RM1,640.50, with the government subsidising RM1,630.50 through a two-year renewable approval.
This initiative addresses questions about long-term plans to manage rising dialysis costs and ease financial burdens on B40 patients.
Increasing chronic kidney disease prevalence, driven by diabetes and hypertension, has steadily escalated dialysis treatment costs.
MOH implements a comprehensive approach including prevention, early detection, and community-level disease management programmes.
Kidney health education in schools and limiting non-prescription medication use form part of prevention efforts.
The ministry strengthens the Peritoneal Dialysis First policy to improve rural treatment access through more cost-effective home-based care.
Patients in remote areas like Belaga currently travel four hours to Bintulu for treatment but could receive care at home with adequate infrastructure.
Policy acceptance remains low due to insufficient incentives and infrastructural constraints like clean water access.
MOH welcomes private sector and NGO collaboration to bolster peritoneal dialysis implementation nationwide.
Dialysis patient numbers reached 55,237 in 2024, with 7,750 receiving haemodialysis and 1,723 undergoing peritoneal dialysis. – Bernama