“It is important that the chronic kidney disease (CKD) afflicting thousands of rural workers in Central America be recognized as what it is -- a major epidemic with a tremendous population impact”, said a clinical epidemiologist at Columbia University in the United States, Victor Penchaszadeh, while commenting on the findings of a recent report “The World”. Victor Penchaszadeh is also serving as a consultant with the Pan American Health Organization.

The report authors have tagged significantly increased unexplained kidney cases as a major cause of deaths, especially among men, even more than the total of HIV and diabetes related deaths. Consequently, Health Minister has hailed the international community for help in order to deal with the epidemic efficiently.

In a statement, the Health Director-General Datuk Seri, Dr. Hasan Abdul Rahman, claimed that every year authorities invest a significant amount of money in order to improve the policies for kidney dialysis as well as treatments. Further, Dr. Rahman has notified an annual expenditure of around RM700 million in Malaysia. Further, the expert has exposed that it requires almost RM30, 000, every year, just to treat a single patient. The country has more than
23,000 registered patients that need an immediate treatment to cure their condition.

Soon after the launch of the Clinical Pratice Guidelines (CPG) on the Management of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in adults, he appeared for a press conference and anticipated that a greater number of people are living in this condition, although, acquire no idea about their illness.

Analysis of several reports has suggested that more than 15% of the Malaysian population is expected to suffer from chronic disease, annually, along with 4.1 million with higher risk of developing kidney problems, according to an estimate. The disease reflects no noteworthy symptom.