Kidney diseases cost the National Health Insurance (NHI) program the most last year, at a total annual cost of NT$48.3 billion (US$1.6 billion), the latest NHI data showed.
Statistics released by the NHI Administration on Sunday showed the five diseases responsible for most NHI expenditure to be acute kidney failure and chronic kidney diseases (NT$48.3 billion), followed by oral, salivary gland and jaw bone diseases (NT$41.3 billion), diabetes (NT$26.4 billion), upper respiratory infectious diseases (NT$26.1 billion) and hypertensive diseases (NT$22.2 billion).
The number of patients with acute kidney failure and chronic kidney diseases reached more than 320,000 last year, including more than 85,000 people who required dialysis, marking the nation’s highest annual number of dialyses cases.
Taiwan Society of Nephrology president Lu Kuo-cheng (盧國城) yesterday told the Chinese-language Apple Daily that while chronic kidney diseases affect about 10 to 11 percent of the population in many countries, owing to dialysis being covered by health insurance in Taiwan, Japan and the US, these three countries have the highest dialysis rates in the world.
The dialysis prevalence is about 3,300 per million in Taiwan, while it is lower than 3,000 per million in Japan and the US, he said.
The US has a higher rate of kidney transplants, but even though first-year mortality rates for dialysis are 18 to 20 percent, patients in Taiwan are often on dialysis for many years and relatively few receive kidney transplants, Lu added.
The high incidence of kidney disease in Taiwan is mainly due to an aging society, changes in dietary habits and many patients with chronic diseases not following their doctors’ instructions, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital nephrologist Yen Tzung-hai (顏宗海) said.
Many elderly people have chronic diseases caused by the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids and high blood sugar — which also damage the kidneys, Yen added.
Eating foods high in sodium, oil and flavoring also harms the kidneys, Yen said, adding that many people with chronic diseases fail to follow instructions in taking medication and develop complications, including kidney diseases.
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