Almost every item associated with kidney dialysis treatment in Jamaica is imported, which accounts for the US$350-US$450 per four-hour-session cost, which makes it prohibitive for most persons who need this life saving procedure, at least three times a week, but opt for one session only because they cannot afford it.

"There is absolutely nothing available locally," Lurline Less, executive chairman of the Diabetic Association of Jamaica (DAJ) told THE STAR.

"You have the acid, that is the bicarbonate that does the filtering of the blood; you have the gauze, the tape, the needles the dialysers (filters) and most of these things are disposable; one-off use and it's into the garbage, so it's pretty expensive to keep purchasing for every treatment."

End-stage kidney disease is the complete or almost complete failure of the kidneys to remove waste and excess water from the body. When this happens, the kidneys are no longer able to work at the level needed to live without dialysis or a transplant.

With diabetes and high blood pressure significantly impacting the kidneys' ability to function normally, the DAJ has been providing dialysis service at the significantly discounted cost of $7,700 since 2007, to an estimated 60 patients.

However, even at this bargain price, most patients cannot afford the three weekly sessions, according to Less.

"We, in fact, give some patents four and a half (hours) that's additional supplies. Why? They can only dialyse once per week and, therefore, we have to push them a little more to keep them until next week. That's the reality of the economics of dialysis," she said.