Kidney patients undergoing dialysis rising

The number of kidney patients undergoing dialysis treatment in the country continues to go up, but the kidney donors remained low.

Romina Daguilan of Renal Gift Allowing Life for Others (REGALO) organ donation advocacy, said kidney patients could not undergo kidney transplant due to lack of donors.

The only option to survive for many patients with end-stage renal disease, Daguilan said, is a kidney transplant, but it is not easy for them to find donors.

According to a data from the Philippine Renal Disease Registry, there were 18,603 new patients that underwent dialysis in January 2015 and by the end of the year, the cases rose to 32,077. Out of these numbers, only 475 Filipino patients received a kidney transplant.

Daguilan urged the public to donate their kidneys to save lives.

“You can choose to sign up as a deceased organ donor in case of brain death and keep your deceased organ donor card with you at all times. Let your family and friends know that you are willing to share a vital part of yourself after death so that others may live,” she said.

Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial echoed Daguilan's appeal to be a kidney donor.

“It is really my belief and advocacy that when one dies, all their organs will have no use, so why the need to keep them. Why don’t we just give them to those in need,”she pointed out.

Those who want to donate their organs at the time of their death, Ubial said, should inform their families about their plans.

Kidney donation allows one to extend a patient’s life without putting their life at risk, health experts said.

National Kidney Transplant Institute executive director Rose Marie Rosete-Liquete said kidney transplantation is the best form of renal replacement therapy.

Patients who receive a kidney transplant become fully rehabilitated and have optimal quality of life and [have] the highest survival rate,” she said.

Liquete stressed that living with one kidney generally does not affect life expectancy and quality of life.