Dr. Thiruventhiran Thilaganathan

Dr Thiru juga adalah naib president bagi Yayasan Pinggang Kebangsaan (NKF), menurutnya, hampir 60 peratus pesakit kegagalan buah pinggang yang berdaftar dengan NKF berada di bawah kategori miskin dengan pendapatan isi rumah kurang daripada RM800 sebulan, manakala pesakit lain turut berpendapatan rendah. Di Malaysia, kebanyakan pesakit buah pinggang berumur sekitar 50 sehingga 65 tahun turut menghidap diabetes, mempunyai tekanan darah tinggi dan kolesterol tinggi.

Dr Thiruventhiran Thilaganathan, Vice Chairman of the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia and SunMed consultant nephrologist said that Malaysia s abundance of delicious food was partly to blame. He called diabetes outside of genetically-inherited types a lifestyle disease . Due to cultural cooking practices, our foods are often rich in carbohydrates and refined sugars. Take rice, for example, he cited. He encourages people to consume less starch, and fill their diet with more grains, vegetables and fruits. We need to relook at what we put into our mouths. Exercise is also important, but too often than not we give excuses like not having enough time after being stuck in traffic, feeling tired we need to make time for it. Think of health as a long-term investment, he advised. Dr Thiru states that in Malaysia, new kidney failure patients are mainly aged from 50 to 65 years old and are diabetic with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. It generally takes 10 to 20 years of uncontrolled diabetes or high blood pressure to damage the kidneys irreversibly. While kidney transplants are the preferred treatment for kidney failure patients, the relatively low donor numbers means there are few transplants done only about 60 a year in Malaysia, he added. Aside from educating the public, the campaign also aims to raise funds to help NKF continue their cause.