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Kidney dialysis
FROM PAGE 3
The study focused on finding out and estimating the health and financial burden of kidney dialysis patients in the country.
It highlighted that in Bangladesh, 8 lakh kidney failure patients require dialysis, but only 30,000 are able to receive it due to a lack of availability and financial limitations.
Abdur Razzak said chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major cause of disability and death globally.
He said, “Kidney dialysis facilities in private hospitals should be subsidised so that resource-poor households can also access the service. Thus, it will ensure equity in receiving dialysis.”
A total of 477 hospitalised patients from public, private, and NGO healthcare facilities participated in this cross-sectional hospital-based study with face-to-face interviews conducted between November 1 and December 31 last year.
The study found that dialysis fees (35.3 percent) and medication costs (23 percent) are the largest contributors to total treatment expenses.
In total, medical costs account for 78.79 percent of the total expenditure for kidney dialysis patients.
The study also revealed that around 90 percent of the households faced catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) to finance dialysis treatment, and about 19.5 percent of the patients received fewer dialysis than the recommended number. The incidence of taking fewer dialysis than recommended was highest (30 percent) among the poorest households.
The high cost of dialysis was the most prevalent reason for those receiving fewer dialysis treatments than they need, added the study.
Abdur Razzak urged the government to allocate a budget to protect patients from financially catastrophic shocks.
“Kidney patients requiring dialysis should be included in a safety net programme so that financing the treatment would be easier,” he said.
Dialysis treatment should be brought under an insurance mechanism to make it more affordable, he also said.
State-owned pharmaceuticals should produce more of the drugs that are currently expensive, to reduce their cost, he added.

NBR conducts
FROM PAGE 5
Opening on September 3, 2021, the 30-acre resort sits on haor or wetland areas of Mithamoin upazila and has 40 air-conditioned suites in 20 two-storey cottages, alongside facilities such as restaurants and playgrounds.
It was alleged to have been constructed with wealth acquired illegally and through the forced occupation of land. The owners are also alleged to have evaded taxes.
On December 4, an eight-member committee was formed by the CIC to conduct investigations, to unearth the investment made into the resort and verify the owners’ income tax returns.
The allegations were primarily found to be true, and various pieces of evidence were collected, CIC Director General Ahsan Habib told The Daily Star.