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 machine.
With CAPD, wastes, chemicals and extra fluid are removed from the body, he said.
During the procedure, liquid is put into the abdomen through a catheter and pulls wastes, chemicals and extra fluid from the blood through the peritoneum, he said.
CAPD is done every day at home while the dialysis with the machine necessitates a visit to hospital two or three times a week, he said.
Dr Jadet said that for some reason, many gold card members whose kidney conditions can be adequately treated using CAPD preferred to have machine dialysis.
At present, the gold card subscribers pay about 12,000 baht a month each for machine dialysis treatment, which is out of reach for the low-income members, he said.
However, the NHSO board has decided that the NHSO will foot the bills of machine dialysis and related costs from Feb 1, he said.
New members who entered the gold card programme after will also be eligible for the free service, Dr Jadet said.
He said before receiving the NHSO-funded dialysis, doctors must be consulted about the members' kidney condition although the final decision on whether to have the dialysis rests with members.
Doctors' advice is essential as kidney disease sufferers living far away from the nearest hospital may have no choice but opt for CAPD depending on the severity of their condition as locality can be a factor in access to healthcare, Dr Jadet said.
Machine dialysis is available mostly at large hospitals located in the cities.