KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — Baxter Asia Pacific (Baxter), a global leader in dialysis care, announced today the launch of ‘My Kidney Journey’, a comprehensive online portal to support patients living with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
CKD is on the rise in APAC and continues to be a major public health problem in countries such as Malaysia. According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey, the prevalence of CKD has increased from 9.1 per cent in 2011 to 15.5 per cent in 2018.
The number of Malaysians with CKD is projected to significantly increase in the future, due to the increasing prevalence of diabetes and hypertension.
My Kidney Journey has been developed to provide additional information on CKD such as the symptoms, causes and stages, as well as balanced and up-to-date information on multiple treatment options to manage CKD such as Home Haemodialysis (Home HD), Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) at home, in-centre dialysis care and kidney transplant.
It also offers support to patients, families and caregivers by providing insights on ways to live well on dialysis, including coping with the emotional difficulties of a diagnosis and demands of treatment.
“Baxter is committed to improving the care and quality of life for patients with CKD through our continued innovation in modern PD (Peritoneal Dialysis) along with home and in-centre Haemodialysis (HD) therapies and services,” said Andrew Frye, president of Baxter Asia Pacific.
“There is no one-size fits all model for managing Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). However, we hope that this new online portal will provide patients with the knowledge and resources they need to plan for a healthy and full life while on dialysis or other CKD treatments. Aside from patients, we hope that My Kidney Journey can be a platform that offers support to caregivers who are supporting their loved ones to adjust to life with CKD and their own personal journey,” he added.
“Being diagnosed with end stage kidney failure is tough to accept. The shock from unexpected test results, feelings of sadness and fear about the idea of living with a chronic illness can be difficult to deal with for both the patient and their family,” said Prof Dr Abdul Halim Bin Abdul Gafor, deputy director of medical services) and senior consultant nephrologist at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre and president of the Malaysian Society of Nephrology (MSN).
“Providing the right information about the disease and treatment options are important to empower patients to decide a treatment plan based on their needs and values. My Kidney Journey is a useful tool to supplement the CKD and pre-dialysis information that healthcare professionals have already provided to patients. This website is supporting both healthcare professionals and patients with decision making. We believe many people with CKD will benefit from visiting and exploring this platform,” he added.
My Kidney Journey APAC is now available for patients and the general public in 12 countries and 9 different languages across APAC.
