MoH Sets Up 33 Community Dialysis Units Nationwide

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Health (MOH) has established 33 Community Dialysis Units (UDK) nationwide, with 28 already operating and five more to be launched soon.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the units, located at rural health clinics, aim to ease access to treatment and reduce patients’ travel and transport costs.

“For dialysis services, particularly in rural areas, MOH has introduced UDK facilities at its health clinics to make treatment more accessible to residents,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to a question from Datuk Abdul Khalib Abdullah (PN-Rompin) on proactive measures taken by the ministry to curb rising dialysis treatment costs through the addition of satellite centres in smaller districts.

Dr Dzulkefly said over 120 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are also operating dialysis centres, helping to ease the burden on patients, including those in remote areas of Sabah and Sarawak.

He added that a policy shift from reliance on haemodialysis to Peritoneal Dialysis (PD), including Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) and Automated Peritoneal Dialysis (APD), is among recent developments in the treatment system.

Dr Dzulkefly also announced that the National Action Plan for Healthy Kidney 2026-2030 will be launched soon to strengthen prevention and comprehensive treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Responding to an original question on the latest statistics on non-communicable diseases (NCD), he said NCDs remain the leading cause of death in Malaysia, accounting for 73 per cent or about 140,000 deaths annually from diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and obesity.

He said the figure far exceeds COVID-19 deaths, which totalled 37,000 over two years, describing NCDs as a “silent pandemic” that lasts a lifetime.

“Unlike infectious pandemics such as COVID-19, which are episodic and acute, NCDs remain with patients throughout their lives and can lead to serious complications, including kidney failure,” he said.

-- BERNAMA