Free kidney dialysis for gold-card holders

About 60,000 members of the gold-card universal health care scheme will be eligible to obtain a free kidney dialysis service starting tomorrow, said the National Health Security Office (NHSO).

Dr Jadet Thammathat-aree, secretary-general of the NHSO, said a growing number of people is suffering from kidney disease and other underlying ailments such as diabetes and hypertension.

Diabetes and hypertension could develop into kidney illness if sufferers do not take care of their health, he said.

Currently, almost 200,000 people nationwide require kidney dialysis, he said. Another 1 million people are inflicted with kidney disease but do not yet require dialysis, he said.

Of the 200,000 people needing dialysis, about 60,000 are gold card subscribers, he added.

He said the service is performed either with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) or a dialysis…