Mental health of hemodialysis patients in the Philippines amid COVID-19 crisis: A call for action
Chronic kidney disease is the seventh leading cause of death in the Philippines,1 with the most number of deaths due to renal failure in Southeast Asia.2 If left untreated, people with this disease require hemodialysis (i.e. a procedure to clean a person's blood through a machine) or a renal tr...
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| Format: | Article |
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SAGE Publications
2023
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| Online Access: | http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/2876/ https://doi.org/10.1177/17423953231151231 |
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| Summary: | Chronic kidney disease is the seventh leading cause of death in the Philippines,1 with the most number of deaths due to renal failure in Southeast Asia.2 If left untreated, people with this disease require hemodialysis (i.e. a procedure to clean a person's blood through a machine) or a renal transplant.1 The current COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the already life-threatening and expensive situation of hemodialysis patients as they are immunocompromised and therefore highly vulnerable. For instance, a recent study conducted during the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Philippines (between 1 April to 31 July 2020 at a tertiary hospital in Manila) revealed that 25% death rate among hemodialysis patients admitted with COVID-19.3 Hemodialysis patients manifesting COVID-19 symptoms needed to pay for the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests, nurses’ personal protective equipment (PPE), and hazard pay4 on top of their already costly hemodialysis session fees. Such a financial obstacle and the lack of dialysis clinics that can accommodate COVID-infected dialysis patients have led to missed dialysis sessions, eventually leading to death due to complications (e.g. pulmonary complications).4 |
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