PNG KIDNEY FOUNDATION CONTINUES DIALYSIS; K150 PER SESSION

By Vonu LIBITINO, Port Moresby

The Papua New Guinea Kidney Foundation (PNGKF) currently has 40 patients that are continuing their dialysis at the Kennedy Estate in Port Moresby.

This from the PNGKF’s Operations Manager Xavier Jeganathan who explained that PNGKF is charging K150 per session of dialysis; the most affordable in PNG, which is being made possible through personal donations made to the PNGKF.

Mr Xavier says dialysis is supposed to have costed K400-K500, because all consumables are bought from overseas, as there are no local suppliers and this cost, increases the cost of dialysis.
He says PNGKF offers the most affordable dialysis in PNG, which normally costs K400-K500/session, which is the most affordable in PNG.

The operations manager says for now, PNGKF is only in POM however, once more provinces come onboard, the cost of dialysis may be reduced, as they will be able to share the cost of buying consumables overseas.
Most of these patients are from outside provinces, as there is no dialysis available in outside centres from POM.

Meantime the Papua New Guinea Kidney Foundation (PNGKF) is committed to training and upskilling local nurses, to carry out dialysis.

PNGKF Operations Manager Xavier Jeganathan explained that PNGKF has and continues to train nurses, so PNGKF does not have to bring in outside help, which is costly.

Mr Xavier also explained that the PNGKF will be setting up a training setting as well, near their base at Kennedy Estate in Port Moresby.

He says they have procured the land and they are now waiting on approval from the Papua New Guinea (PNG) National Department of Health (NDoH) and the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) Building Board to approve the building plan, before they can proceed with this project.

This is part of the PNGKF’s long term plans in PNG, as, Mr Xavier says, there is an increasing number of patients in need of dialysis treatment and PNGKF is committed to providing the most affordable dialysis treatment, as generally, most patients cannot afford the service.