THE number of children treated for kidney disease at the National University Hospital (NUH) has doubled in the last 10 years, said a paediatric kidney expert yesterday.

Professor Yap Hui Kim, head of the division of paediatric nephrology, immunology and urology at the University Children's Medical Institute, said the centre now sees seven or eight new cases a year, twice the number a decade ago.

Altogether the centre sees 2,000 to 3,000 children yearly who have chronic kidney disease. More than 100 have progressed to end-stage kidney failure and need dialysis or a transplant. A major factor is the number of children who are now getting Type 2 diabetes, usually seen in adults, said Prof Yap.

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