Page 39 - Berita Sunway - Issue 74

Interviews

Lightening the burden of Committed to advancing
dialysis patients healthcare for all

Founded in 1969, NKF is an NGO dedicated to helping As deputy president of NKF, it was only natural for Sunway
Malaysians suffering from end-stage kidney failure who lack access or Group’s founder and chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah to initiate the
financial resources to acquire dialysis treatments. From a dialysis partnership between Sunway’s corporate social responsibility (CSR)
treatment provider, NKF has since expanded its role to becoming a efforts with NKF in 2000.
one-stop national resource centre for all kidney-related matters. “Sunway has been supporting NKF to champion kidney
In 1993, NKF launched its first dialysis centre at Jalan Hang transplant and create awareness in Malaysia on the importance of
early detection and prevention of kidney and kidney associated
Lekiu, Kuala Lumpur. Today, it provides subsidised dialysis diseases among the rural and urban communities,” said Shobana.
treatment for 1,683 dialysis patients in 28 dialysis centres nationwide. Among the key initiatives launched together with Sunway’s support is
“All the NKF dialysis centres meet the stringent criteria of the NKF’s LifeCheck Mobile Health Screening Bus, a 40-seater
Private Medical Practice Division of the Ministry of Health (MOH) customised bus for health screening. Since the launch of two buses in
Malaysia and have obtained MOH operating licences to provide 2008 and 2010 respectively, the LifeCheck Mobile Health Screening
dialysis services. NKF has continuously strived to maintain that niche Buses have successfully screened 619,045 Malaysians for kidney
One in six Malaysians – or 15.5% “Our sincere appreciation to with the sole objective of providing quality care to our poor kidney disease.
of the country’s population – are Sunway Group’s founder and failure patients that enable them to have a better quality of life,” said From 2013 to 2016, Sunway supported the funding for NKF’s
estimated to suffer from chronic kidney chairman, Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey NKF’s head of branding, communications and fundraising, Datin S. Organ Donation Campaign to educate the community about organ
disease, with the number of end-stage Shobana Kamalanathan. donation and organ transplantation as an alternative treatment for
kidney disease patients on an uptrend in Cheah AO for constantly helping Besides providing affordable dialysis treatments, NKF also patients with end-stage kidney failure.
the past seven years, according to the Malaysians and NGOs like NKF developed the Haemodialysis Induction Course, a three-month Under the campaign, NKF set up an Organ Donation Promotion
National Health and Morbidity Survey to serve and engage with the specialised training course for dialysis assistants to raise the standard Unit at Sunway Pyramid, the first of its kind in Malaysia. Sponsored
(NHMS) 2018. community at large. ank you, of care provided to kidney disease patients. by Sunway, the promotion unit proved successful, garnering 800
Every year, approximately 7,000 Tan Sri, for supporting NKF to As prevention is better than cure, NKF is also combating the organ donor pledges at the physical site and 10,490 pledges
Malaysians are diagnosed with kidney champion kidney transplant in rising numbers of Malaysians with kidney-related disease by nationwide.
failure. e 26th Report of Malaysia’s Malaysia and helping us to educating the public on the prevention and management of kidney In 2017, Sunway raised a total of RM500,000 from the Chinese
Dialysis and Transplant Registry 2018 diseases and creating awareness on kidney care. is is done via public New Year Cheer 2017 and Choral Serenade to Music 2017 events to
disclosed that there were 8,431 new create awareness on the health screenings and educational campaigns. purchase 10 units of dialysis machines. Each machine provides 936
dialysis cases reported as of December importance of early detection e NGO also encourages pledges to organ donation to support dialysis sessions to patients per year. Sunway sponsored approximately
2018. With diabetes being the main and prevention of kidney kidney failure patients on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. RM3 million to date since its first partnership in 2006 while Kelab
cause of kidney failure, more than 60% related diseases among the rural Currently, the number of organ pledgers in Malaysia is at about 1.1%, Sosial Sunway members collectively donated close to RM7,000
of new dialysis patients suffer from the and urban communities.” according to NKF. during the Chinese New Year donation drive which was handed over
condition as reported by the National e need for dialysis sessions does not stop for patients, even to NKF towards the maintenance of their dialysis machines.
Kidney Foundation of Malaysia (NKF). during a pandemic. Addressing the urban poor, NKF in collaboration with Sunway
In fact, the number of end-stage Datin S. Shobana Kamalanathan In May 2020, NKF pledged close to RM1 million to provide for provided mobile health screening for 185 residents across three
kidney disease is expected to rise in NKF's head of branding, patients’ subsistence during the economically challenging period. People’s Housing Projects (PPR) in 2019. NKF and Sunway, plans to
tandem with incidences of diabetes. communications and fundraising NKF also donated medical supplies to MOH and 17 extend the service to the Orang Asli community in future.
e NHMS 2019 reports that one in haemodialysis machines to ensure proper treatment for kidney “It has been a successful and fruitful partnership with Sunway
five adult Malaysians have diabetes. patients. over the years. e partnership has shown that Sunway has been a
End-stage kidney failure Stage 5 “ e COVID-19 pandemic has led loving and caring organisation towards the
patients have two treatment options to an overwhelming number of patients wellbeing of the public,” said Shobana.
– kidney transplant or peritoneal in government hospitals, and we “NKF is grateful for the strong
dialysis and hemodialysis. recognise the urgency to respond and partnership with Sunway. We appreciate
Given the high cost of dialysis, act swiftly to address the country’s needs the trust and continued support that
NKF subsidises the cost of the at such critical time,” Shobana said. inspire us to carry on doing what we
treatments requiring only a RM50 do best, providing dialysis care to
nominal fee per session. marginalised patients, educating the
As NKF’s patients are public on kidney care, and promoting
kidney transplantation in Malaysia,”
predominantly from the lower income she said.
group, they are unable to afford dialysis
treatments offered by private medical
facilities which typically charge around
RM150 to RM250 per session.

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