Pick up dialysis tab of the poor, NFK urged
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF), the largest non-governmental provider of haemodialysis service in the country, should pick up the haemodialysis tab of poor patients, say a life member of the foundation and a former staff member.
They said even if the Government lacked the money for haemodialysis subsidy, the foundation should provide funds to needy patients.
The life member, who declined to be named, quoted the foundation annual report 2012 that the organisation’s surplus of income was 5.644 million ringgit (US$1.77 million) at January last year.
She said the total number of patients receiving NKF financial assistance, however, was not many.
Only 80 patients from a total of 1,468 patients (or 5.45 per cent) received funds from the Patient Dialysis Welfare Fund while 125 patients (8.5 per cent) received its general Welfare Fund as at December 31 last year.
“Funds spent on the patients were only 105,000 ringgits and 165,000 ringgits respectively,” she said, responding to the special report in The Star yesterday on patients in NGO-run haemodialysis centres who had not been receiving subsidy from the Government. Some poor patients at the NGO-run haemodialysis centres had reportedly not been receiving subsidy from the Government since 2011.
The former staff member said the foundation should spend on those who had not received subsidy from the Government as the foundation has more than enough funds.
“It should not have so much surplus as it is a non-profit organisation. The money should be spent on patients in need,” he said.
Source: Asia News Network
Published: 08 Nov 2013
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