KUCHING: Five hospitals in Sarawak will be upgraded with haemodialysis units this year.
Health Minister, Dr Zaliha Mustafa in a written reply to Betong MP Dr Richard Rapu in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday said the Ministry of Health (MoH) is expanding haemodialysis services to patients in the interior by establishing haemodialysis units at health clinics.
“Sarawak has 21 haemodialysis units in government hospitals and four in health clinics.
“This year, five projects involve haemodialysis units in Sarawak, namely at Kanowit Hospital, Sri Aman II Hospital, Lawas Hospital, Petra Jaya Hospital and Selangau Health Clinic,” she said.
For the Kanowit Hospital Haemodialysis Unit, preliminary work to upgrade is being done.
“While at Sri Aman II Hospital, the government is in the process of procuring equipment for haemodialysis machines, chairs and tables.
“The reconstruction of the Lawas Hospital building to be equipped with a haemodialysis unit is expected to be completed by the end of December.
“While the construction of the Petra Jaya Hospital equipped with its own haemodialysis unit is expected to be completed in January 2024.
“The haemodialysis unit at the Selangau Health Clinic is also still under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of next September,” he said.
Each newly built government hospital will also be equipped with a haemodialysis unit which is expected to increase treatment capacity with an average minimum increase of 40 to 60 patients depending on financial allocation, number of staff and treatment shifts.
She added that the Ministry of Health is also actively expanding the Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) treatment method for patients who meet the criteria.
According to her, it can be done at home by the patient and gives advantages including in terms of saving time and reducing the cost of going back and forth to health facilities.
A total of 3,606 kidney patients underwent haemodialysis in Sarawak.
A total of 1,294 patients underwent dialysis treatment at government hospitals, 79 patients at government health clinics, 1,122 patients at private dialysis centres and 1,111 patients at NGO dialysis centres.
The total number of haemodialysis machines in Sarawak stands at 236 machines in government hospitals, 25 machines in government health clinics, 142 machines in private dialysis centres and 199 machines in non-government organisation (NGO) dialysis centres.
