IPOH: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) is set to have more dialysis centres next year, says Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.
He said discussions had been held to build a new one in Perak.
“We have started with the early works. The location in Perak will be announced by January next year,” he said.
Speaking to reporters yesterday at Socso’s Deepavali celebrations, Sivakumar said there were now four dialysis centres under Socso, namely in Klang and Shah Alam in Selangor; and Batu Pahat and Kluang in Johor.
“Currently, Socso spends about RM350mil annually on dialysis treatments for its contributors.”
He said that for the past 10 years, Malaysia recorded among the highest number of kidney patients in the world.
Sivakumar said that from 1998 up until last month, Socso had donated a total of 1,171 hemodialysis machines worth RM46.84mil.
“In conjunction with the Deepavali celebration, Socso donated three machines to Perak National Kidney Foundation Malaysia (NKF) centres.”
“Two of the machines were donated to Yayasan Dialisis Pendidikan Akhlak Perak and another one to Persatuan Meningkat Akhlak Wong Peng Cheah Seah,” he said.
On July 6, Sivakumar said Socso spent RM334.67mil on dialysis treatments in 2022, while also receiving 2,000 to 3,000 new applications annually.
