SHAH ALAM: Malaysia has to spend RM3.3bil a year to treat end-stage kidney disease, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
"In 2010, Malaysia spent RM572mil on end-stage kidney disease treatment. Today, that cost has surged to RM3.3bil annually," said the Health Minister.
That is how much the cost has gone up," he said during his speech at the 2026 World Kidney Day celebration here on Sunday (April 12).
He said excise duties collected from the sugar-sweetened beverage tax has been used to treat patients with diabetes mellitus while at the same time reducing the risk of complications from chronic kidney disease.
"This fund is fully utilised to finance sodium-glucose transport protein 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, a highly innovative treatment proven to treat patients with diabetes mellitus while simultaneously reducing the risk of complications from chronic kidney disease," he said.
"In response to the challenge of treatment sustainability, the Health Ministry has also taken proactive steps by strengthening the PD first (peritoneal dialysis) policy, which encourages eligible patients to begin dialysis treatment at home. This approach provides greater independence for patients, reduces congestion at treatment centres and lowers healthcare costs," he added.
Dzulkefly said the ministry has allocated RM40mil specifically for PD treatment in 2025.
"The percentage of patients undergoing PD treatment at the health ministry's facilities has increased to 42% in 2025, compared to only 36.6% in 2020," he said.
A total of 3,161 patients have directly benefited from PD treatment at the Health Ministry's facilities," he added.
He said after the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia is a battling the non-communicable diseases "pandemic", adding that kidney failure is one of the worrying results.
