Govt has betrayed kidney dialysis patients after reduction of subsidy - NFP

National Federation Party says that government has betrayed kidney dialysis patients after the reduction of the subsidy from $3.5 million in the 2018-2019 budget to $100,000 in the 2020-2021 budget however Acting Permanent Secretary Dr James Fong has confirmed that the earlier allocation also included the cost of setting up the Kidney Dialysis Treatment and Research Centre in Nadera.

Dr Fong highlighted that this included the cost of the equipment that was bought from overseas and the initial set up operations in Labasa.

He says now much of these costs are absorbed into operational budget, therefore, their equipment and consumables allocation has increased by $2 million and their laboratory allocation by $3 million.

Dr Fong says the renal subsidy allocation was used to subsidise patient access to renal dialysis service which was over and above the actual patient subsidy.

Meanwhile, the NFP Vice-President Lenora Qereqeretabua says this proves that the FijiFirst Government’s pre-November 2018 election budgetary allocation of $3.5 million to subsidise kidney dialysis for low-income families, with a combined income of less than $30,000 per annum, was an election gimmick and a vote buying exercise.

Qereqeretabua says this is a gross insult and adding more pain and misery to kidney dialysis patients from low-income families who simply cannot afford the exorbitant dialysis costs – a treatment they require three times a week.

She says government’s promise during the 2018-19 budget of building kidney dialysis treatment centres as well its 2017-18 budget promise of equipping Lautoka Hospital with 4 new dialysis machines have obviously not materialised.

Qereqeretabua says it would also mean kidney patients below the threshold of $30,000 will end up paying a total of between $450 a week in the case of the Northern Division patients being treated at Labasa Hospital or between $600 and $750 for patients in other divisions for three sessions per week.

She says this was simply unaffordable in 2018.

Qereqeretabua says the NFP will move a motion during the budget scrutiny in Parliament next week to increase the allocation for subsidised dialysis allocation to be increased to $3.5 million.