Simione Tuvuki 
The hopes of kidney disease patients have been boosted, as the construction of the Northern Dialysis Center extension has commenced.
Labasa Hospital Board Chairman, Hazeem Hussein says they will be able to accommodate more patients and meet the demand for dialysis at the center.
Hussein says they will also be able to cater for patients visiting the Northern Division.
“Labasa already had a lot of demand for dialysis because there was no center … a lot of people could not be treated, and they died early because once their kidney fail that is their last option. Now, they have got an option of having dialysis. So, it will give them another 10 – 15 years of being with the families.”
Hussein says they could only cater for 28 patients, but they will now be able to accommodate a total of 50 patients with the completed extension.
He says the extension includes an additional four Reverse Osmosis units.
The Labasa Hospital Board funded two units which are valued at around $80,000, and the other two have been donated by Ramakrishna Mission.
The Chairman adds that they are the only center that provides free-of-charge dialysis services, as their costs are covered by the government subsidy.
The project is funded by the Labasa Hospital Board, through savings from the dialysis-service subsidy by government and donations by its partners.
It is valued at around $100,000 and is expected to be completed before year-end.
