Dialysis, those words
Kidney patients
MORE effort and support is required for the growing number of people requiring dialysis treatment.
For the majority, three treatment sessions are required a week at a cost of around $200-$250 per session.
That will be between $600-$750 per week.
There are other costs as well depending on treatment outcome. And then there is the cost of getting to and from the kidney clinic.
All in all, it is costing kidney patients approximately $1000 a week to stay alive. If one cannot afford that kind of money, death is the only other option.
The private kidney clinic that I get regular treatments at is fully booked running three sessions a day with all dialysis machines booked out every day of every week. And that’s with many more patients on the wait list requiring urgent treatment.
Government and the Ministry of Health ought to take a serious look at how they can support kidney patients better as it’s a serious life and death matter that requires urgent attention.
I believe not enough is being done to keep people well and government needs to step up many more levels, in compassion and in being responsible for its people by subsidising more.
Most importantly, a larger kidney clinic needs to be established that can cater to 100-plus patients at a time.
Kidney disease is on the rise and looking to become one of the biggest killers for Fijians. Why are we still sleeping on it?
It’s indeed a very sad state of affairs!
SIMON HAZELMAN
Rava Estate, Savusavu