Go For Healthier Lifestyle To Reduce Kidney Failure

KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 (Bernama) -- Malaysians need to go for healthier lifestyle to reduce the number of kidney failures in the country, Deputy Minister of Tourism Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai said Tuesday.
" The public must change their lifestyle especially on diet and exercises," he said at the launching of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF)'s 'Colours for Charity' campaign to raise RM2 million.
The funds raised would go towards setting up more dialysis centres to assist more than 800 kidney patients in the country. Currently, the NKF has 19 dialysis centres all over Malaysia.
According to the NKF, some 2,500 new cases of kidney failure were diagnosed in Malaysia.
Lim said if this goes unchecked, Malaysia will be on the top list in Asia with the highest kidney failure patients to population ratio.
"I believe this is not an accolade we wish to achieve. The public must work hard-in-hand with the government and health-oriented organisations such as the NKF to prevent this from occurring.
Meanwhile, NKF's Chief Executive Officer Goh Seng Chuan told reporters that in conjunction with the campaign, the organisation had also conducted a nationwide health screening at all its centres every first and third Sunday of the month starting from Feb 19.
He said statistics showed that more than 50 per cent of kidney failure cases were caused by diabetes and high blood pressure, and as a national body, NKF was taking steps to identify those with increased risk of chronic kidney diseases.
He also hoped that this campaign would create public awareness that prevention was better than cure.