KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia now spends more than RM3.3 billion a year treating end-stage kidney disease, up sharply from RM572 million in 2010, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told reporters. The figure underlines how chronic kidney disease has become one of the country's costliest non-communicable disease burdens.
Containing a rising bill
To slow the growth in spending, the ministry is doubling down on its "PD First" policy, which steers suitable patients toward home-based peritoneal dialysis rather than in-centre haemodialysis. Peritoneal dialysis uses the patient's own abdominal lining as a natural filter and can be performed at home, reducing the need to build and staff new dialysis centres.
Progress and funding
- Peritoneal dialysis now accounts for about 42% of ministry dialysis patients in 2025, up from 36.6% in 2020.
- Revenue from the sugar-sweetened beverage tax is being channelled into newer treatments such as SGLT2 inhibitors that can slow kidney decline.
- Officials have warned the country cannot indefinitely keep expanding haemodialysis capacity at the current pace.
The minister positioned the strategy as both a cost-control and an equity measure, expanding access for patients in rural and remote areas while improving quality of life. For the renal-care supply chain, the policy direction points to sustained demand for home-dialysis equipment, consumables and patient-support infrastructure across Malaysia.
