Patients undergoing dialysis treatment at the Quỳnh Phụ General Hospital in the province. — Photo baothaibinh.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Just one third of all kidney dialysis patients nationwide are receiving proper treatment, a health congress held in Hà Nội was told on Saturday.

The Vietnam Dialysis Association said the country has only around 400 dialysis facilities with more than 5,000 dialysis machines nationwide and about 2,000 people with kidney failure being treated by peritoneal dialysis. With existing equipment, the health has met only 30 per cent of dialysis treatment needs.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Health Đỗ Xuân Tuyên said patients with end-stage chronic kidney disease, kidney failure and those indicated for cycle dialysis (hemodialysis) are constantly increasing in the world as well as in Việt Nam, along with the increase in diabetes and high blood pressure.

“Việt Nam currently has about 30,000 kidney failure patients, making up 0.031 per cent of the country’s population," said Tuyên.

“It is expected that the number of patients in need of dialysis will increase in the coming years, requiring the dialysis industry to expand and develop further."

“The Vietnam Dialysis Association will be a socio-professional organisation that will participate in treatment, training and scientific research activities, contributing to improving life quality of dialysis patients as well as development of dialysis industry.”

Health experts said that kidney disease is a silent killer that often has no symptoms in the early stage. Currently, the dialysis model in Việt Nam is mainly implemented in hospitals. There are no independent dialysis centres or home dialysis models and patients with artificial kidneys currently are lacking access to kidney treatment facilities. In many medical facilities, dialysis is only part of the intensive care unit or urology department.

Lack of doctors or medical workers specialised in dialysis also is factor that cause many problems during treatment as well as shortage of equipment.

In Việt Nam, dialysis was first performed in 1972 at Bạch Mai General Hospital. Over half a century, the dialysis facility system has been formed throughout the country, from the central and provincial levels to the district levels with 500 doctors and more than 5,000 nurses and dialysis technicians. — VNS