An official from the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) said more than 50, 00 patients are undergoing dialysis compared to 4,420 over 20 years ago.

NKTI public health unit head Maria Angeles Marbella said there are 52,804 patients undergoing dialysis and this could be due to the presence of fastfood restaurants practically every corner.

“Dahil dito sa ating fastfood natin na lahat nagkakaroon ng bawat corner. ‘Yan ang very accessible na pagkain,” Marbella said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

She said these restaurants offer fried, salty and processed food which

are dangerous to consumers in the long run.

She said people undergoing dialysis means their condition is irreversible and the only solution is a kidney transplant.

However, there are only a few donors in the country.

Data from the NKTI showed there are 297 transplant candidates in the waiting list, 281 of whom are kidney disease patients.

Peter Paul Plegaria, chief transplant coordinator of the NKTI, said they only have an average of one donor every month. This month, they had no donor. DMS