updated at http://bic-cherry.blogspot.com/
Staying togetherÂ… leaving our dialysis patients behind. Ethical?
Expensive ministerial salaries we can payÂ… but expensive dialysis treatments they cannot subsidize (pushing the job to NKF)Â… whose decision is it to deprive dialysis patients of the usual subsidies?
“Dialysis is a method of removing toxic substances (impurities or wastes) from the blood when the kidneys are unable to do so. Dialysis is most frequently used for patients who have kidney failure, … This technique can be life saving in people with acute or chronic kidney failure”.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003421.htm Moving ahead towards a ‘first class living environment’ (see budget 2007 website)… but leaving the dialysis patients to fend for themselves…. How unkind…
Gov gives (without means testing) a 65- 80% inpatient subsidy, (
http://www.moh.gov.sg/corp/about/newsroom/pressreleases/details.do?id=42500097 )65% day surgery subsidy and 50% specialist out patient clinic subsidyÂ… so why cannot dialysis treatment costs be govt subsidized?..(Cost of dialysis:
http://www.nkfs.org/subsidies.php ).
Are some Singaporeans more human then others? Why the differences in subsidies for equally life sustaining treatments?
What gives these high caliber PAP ministers the right to deprive Singaporeans of life sustaining treatments?
GCT @ NDP rally 2000:
”Suppose we find a suitable man from among the best. How do we pay him? The top 8 bankers earned between $2.2 million and $4.5 million each in 1998. This excludes foreign bankers and owners of banks. The top 8 accountants earned between $2.0 million and $2.3 million. A Minister at Staff Grade I, however, is paid about $1 million, less than half what the 8th highest paid banker and accountant earned. Moreover, while the Minister pays taxes like the bankers and accountants, he does not have a corporate car and a chauffeur. He also pays his own medical bills and hospital fees. … … Should we then settle for people of lesser calibre?, http://www.gov.sg/nd/ND00.htm ”
- 12.11.05: Dr Balaji: Speech: Singapore has a high rate of kidney failure:
http://www.moh.gov.sg/corp/about/newsroom/speeches/details.do?id=34668592 - 19.10.2001: Singapore has the world's fourth-highest rate of diabetes,
http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/magazine/life/1,8782,179116,00.html - From 1Oct2006, patients can use their Medisave to pay for part of their outpatient treatment for diabetes http://www.hpb.gov.sg/health_articles/medisave_diabetes/index.htm [help for diabetics abit too late?]
- NKF: Only about 10 cents out of every charity dollar went towards subsidizing patients' direct treatment costs in 2003: (19.12.05:
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw05/051219re.htm )
- NKF: “patients enjoy an excellent survival rate of more than 94% at the end of one year, one of the highest worldwide”-
http://www.nkfs.org/medical_programmes.php - "...I regret making the decision because, in the end, the baby continued to be in intensive care, and KKH now runs up a total bill of more than $300,000..." - Lim Hng Kiang, regretting the decision to save a baby's life because KKH ran up a $300,000 bill (Is Lim HK a top accountant?)
http://groups.google.com.sg/group/soc.culture.singapore/msg/f4739dba35c7c6fc?dmode=source&hl=en - http://www.gov.sg/ SG gov: “Integrity, Service, Excellence”, life saving dialysis not subsidised. High calibre, no ethics.