FROM next month, needy kidney patients will be getting a monthly subsidy for taking buses and the MRT to their dialysis sessions during the recession.
Under a new public transport subsidy programme started by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), each patient will be given an ez-link card that the charity will top up with $30 every month.
About 140 needy patients will benefit from this programme, which aims to tide them over the economic downturn.
Donations down, patients up
DONATIONS TO NKF
-From December 2007 to February 2008: $6.5 million
-From December 2008 to February 2009: $5.2 million
SUBSIDIES TO PATIENTS
-From July 2007 to June 2008: $20 million
-From July 2008 to June 2009 (projected): $22 million
