When Hong Kong got its first kidney dialysis treatment centre in 1981
The South China Morning Post's report on the new kidney treatment centre, on September 23, 1980. Photo: SCMP Archives
'Earlier in the year, the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club donated $2 million towards setting up the treatment centre. Including many other donations, the foundation has so far raised a total of $5,616,553. The foundation is now recruiting a medical director and other staff members to man the treatment centre, which is expected to be in operation by early next year. A further objective will be to set up a service for
the transplant of kidneys by encouraging people to agree to donate their kidneys after death.'
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On August 5, 1981, the Post stated, 'The acting Governor, Sir Jack Cater, will this evening officiate at the opening of the Hongkong Kidney Foundation's dialysis centre. The centre has been bought with a donation from Mr Li Ka-shing. This has enabled the foundation, which is a voluntary organisation dedicated to helping kidney patients, to begin functioning.'
The next day, the Post reported that 'Sir Jack Cater, officiated at the opening ceremony, held at the Pearl Theatre in Causeway Bay. And he praised the Hongkong Kidney Foundation, who will run the new centre in Kowloon, for its 'vigorous efforts to focus [on] and combat the problems experienced by kidney disease sufferers in Hongkong.'
Sir Jack Cater, Hong Kong acting governor, speaks at the opening ceremony of a new kidney dialysis centre. Photo: SCMP Archives
'The ceremony was followed by a charity premiere for the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only - organised by the Hongkong Round Table No 10 – which raised about $100,000 for the foundation.
'A member of the foundation's board of governors, a leading surgeon, said that every year 400-500 new cases of kidney disease come to light here. The surgeon added that 'without proper treatment, those people would eventually die.'
'In a foreword to the programme for the charity premiere, Sir Jack wrote: 'While the Hongkong Government has ambitious medical development programmes, including a planned expansion of its haemodialysis service, there are few governments which have achieved complete medical coverage for all its citizens in all areas.''
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