SURABAYA: In anticipation of the increasing number of patients suffering from kidney failure in the region, the Surabaya city administration has planned to allocate more funds next year to provide free hemodialysis treatments for its residents.
Head of the Surabaya Development Planning Agency Tri Rismaharini said the administration would allocate Rp 16 billion from its 2010 budget for the program, or a Rp 6 billion increase compared to that allocated for the previous year.
"The program is not just open to economically disadvantaged families, but also to struggling middle-class families that cannot afford the expensive hemodialysis treatment," Tri told The Jakarta Post recently.
Tri said that residents of the Surabaya municipality were eligible for the free treatments, but must obtain confirmation letters from the heads of their respective neighborhood units, villages and sub-districts.
Data from the state-owned RSUD Dr. Soetomo hospital in Surabaya show that there are about 20 kidney-failure patients registered each week on the waiting list for the hemodialysis treatment at the hospital. -JP
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|