The Taiwan Society of Nephrology has the signatures of nearly 30,000 people for a petition urging the government to increase funding for renal dialysis treatment to cope with an increase in the number of patients on dialysis.
The Bureau of National Health Insurance spends more than NT$30.4 billion (US$1 billion) per year to cover outpatient hospital visits by 60,000 patients with kidney disease, the largest single outlay in national health insurance payments, a bureau report said last month.
To address the situation, the society launched the petition earlier this year, appealing to the government to earmark sufficient funds for dialysis treatment and allocate a special budget to strengthen prevention and control of renal disease.
The petition highlights public concern over the inadequacy of kidney disease prevention and control measures and the need for better funding for renal dialysis treatment, society president Lin Yu-feng (林裕峰) said.
Unlike many other countries, the number of renal disease patients requiring dialysis in Taiwan fell last year, Lin said, because of efforts by the government and the medical sector to prevent and control kidney disease.
However, the number of patients with chronic renal disease is still high.
Lin said this was partly because of the increase in the elderly population and partly because of high-quality treatment that allows for a high survival rate among patients with chronic disease.
RSS