March 14, 2021
Hakim Hayat
Kidney disease presents a significant challenge to the Government of Brunei Darussalam, especially the Ministry of Health (MoH), said Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to outsource public haemodialysis services to Jerudong Park Medical Centre (JPMC) yesterday.
Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham said that by the end of last year, the number of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients in Brunei had risen to 881, of which 85 per cent (752) were on haemodialysis, adding that the figures will continue to rise.
He said the MoH is facing a significant number of people requiring renal replacement therapy which is complex and costly, at approximately BND25,000-BND35,000 per year per patient, just for dialysis alone. “Given the increasing demand and significant costs, it is easy to see that kidney disease presents a significant challenge for the MoH,” he said.