By writer to www.straitstimes.com
SINGAPORE – Sufferers who want a pancreas transplant will now be positioned on a nationwide wait listing to get the operation, with Singaporeans and everlasting residents eligible for subsidies beneath a brand new nationwide programme.
This can be certain that potential sufferers in any respect hospitals are recognized and screened for pancreas transplant suitability. These on the wait listing can count on to attend round two years to obtain a brand new pancreas.
This organ produces insulin, a hormone that helps management blood glucose ranges.
For extreme diabetics who don’t produce adequate insulin, a pancreas transplant can enhance their high quality of life and scale back long-term diabetic issues similar to kidney failure, blindness and stroke.
After a profitable transplant, the pancreas ought to be capable to produce adequate insulin to manage the affected person’s blood sugar.
The nationwide programme was accepted by the Ministry of Well being (MOH) in April, making Singapore the one South-east Asian nation with a pancreas transplant service.
The Nationwide College Hospital (NUH) and Singapore Normal Hospital (SGH) transplant items first collaborated on a pilot pancreas transplant service in 2012.
A pancreas transplant is mostly carried out with a kidney transplant – referred to as simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplant, Affiliate Professor Tiong Ho Yee, director of the Nationwide Pancreas Transplant Programme, informed the media on Saturday (Dec 11).
He defined that diabetes is a significant reason behind kidney failure.
An SPK transplant improves the standard of life for diabetic sufferers in contrast with a kidney transplant alone, as they are going to not have to take common insulin injections or bear dialysis therapies, Prof Tiong mentioned.
“That is the one therapy to determine regular sugar ranges in sufferers with diabetes with out the necessity for exterior insulin injections,” mentioned Prof Tiong.
One SPK transplant has been carried out since April, whereas 4 such operations have been efficiently carried out through the pilot. The nationwide programme additionally affords pancreas-only transplants and pancreas after kidney transplants.
About 19,000 individuals listed here are recognized with diabetes every year.
In accordance with the Singapore renal registry annual report 2019, diabetes is the primary reason behind kidney failure right here, accounting for about two in three new sufferers needing dialysis.
Talking at an occasion to mark World Diabetes Day on Nov 14, Well being Minister Ong Ye Kung mentioned one in three people in Singapore is vulnerable to growing diabetes of their lifetime.
“If nothing is finished, by 2050, it’s estimated that about a million Singaporeans might be residing with diabetes,” mentioned Mr Ong.
Solely Singaporeans and everlasting residents are lined by the nationwide programme, and eligible sufferers will profit from MOH subsidies for the transplant operation, which might be carried out at NUH within the subsequent two years.
With out the subsidies, sufferers could need to fork out round $80,000.
Mr Halim Anuwar was the primary to bear an SPK transplant beneath the nationwide programme in July this 12 months.
The 39-year-old ambulance driver, who started dialysis therapies in early 2020, mentioned: “It was surprising and sudden to obtain the decision from NUH that I might bear the transplant.”
He added: “I am recovering nicely now and in reality, I am again at work. I not need to attend dialysis therapies and might now lead a traditional life.”
— to www.straitstimes.com
