Dialysis treatment at spa-like home

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: Stepping into the spa-like house, one cannot help but wonder if it really is a place for the sick.
The beautiful interior of the YKN Dialysis Bangsar is nothing like a dialysis centre.
It also offers family members of patients a chance to unwind and relax while their loved ones undergo treatment.
The centre is a project of Yayasan Kebajikan Negara (YKN) under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry. It plans to open 19 such home-based centres across the nation.
At the official opening yesterday, minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who also chairs YKN, said poor patients also deserve to be in a comfortable environment.
She said since YKN came under her ministry three years ago, a total of RM46.7 million had been spent to help 117,798 people who needed medicine or disaster aid.
Of this, she said, RM11.67 million had been spent on 2,302 kidney patients.
Shahrizat said training would also be provided at these dialysis centres for those wishing to look after patients.
Treatment is free for YKN-referred patients but walk-in patients have to pay RM160 per session.