Some Relief for Dialysis Patients

Patrick Faber

End-stage kidney disease, or renal failure, continues to be a life-threatening affliction that many Belizeans grapple with.  Treatment of chronic disease includes hemodialysis, which uses a machine to filter blood outside the body, replacing the function of the kidneys.  Locally, the provision of that medical care is extremely costly and many lives have been lost when the afflicted persons are unable to afford treatment which can cost up to five hundred dollars for two sessions. A solution to the problem has remained elusive for G.O.B. which claims it spends too much to subsidize a limited number of persons. By far, many more are unable to get on the list for treatment.  On Friday, on the occasion of Independence Day, the DPM Patrick Faber announced some relief for persons that require treatment, but the details are still unclear.

Patrick Faber, Deputy Prime Minister

“It is equally important that we focus on the social fabric of our society in order that our citizens are equipped with the skills and abilities to participate fully in the works and benefits that growth will bring. It is in this light that the government is placing investments in health and education as two of the pillars of social upliftment. Initiatives in these two areas are numerous, but I will focus on two. The Ministry of Education announced at the start of this fiscal year, its high school subsidy expansion programme that now brings a total of three of our six districts to receive the three hundred-dollar subsidy automatically without the need to qualify. In addition, all rural primary school children now also qualify automatically. In health, cabinet recently decided that a hundred hemodialysis patients receiving treatment at four service providers across the country will all receive two free treatments per week.”