The National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia (NKF) is shocked and appalled by distasteful claims made by a viral social media post attempting to promote a product to cure kidney disease. NKF was alerted of this scam when members of the public contacted the organisation to enquire about the legitimacy of the product. Further investigations led to the viral post, which included a tempered photo of NKF Malaysia that was taken at an event in 2019.
NKF would like to make it clear that it does not endorse such products that promote false claims on curing kidney disease. The post on social media which promotes Jisheng Kidney Qi Tablets as a cure for kidney disease without dialysis is clearly a scam that NKF will not tolerate.
“We take such scams very seriously, especially one which is portrayed to be endorsed by NKF. We would like to reiterate that we do not endorse products that claim it can cure kidney disease, especially ones promoted by external links which are not related to NKF,” said NKF Malaysia chairman Dato’ Dr Zaki Morad Mohamad Zaher.
“We at NKF provide advice on the prevention and treatment of kidney diseases based on evidence and consultation with our panel of experts. Over the years, there have been multiple claims made by pharmaceutical individuals and others in the medical line about products that can prevent kidney disease or cure it. However, the public is advised to verify such claims either with their doctors or NKF first,” he added.
Following this, NKF has lodged a police report and also filed a complaint with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Ministry of Health (MOH) for further investigation. NKF will work closely with all relevant authorities and take stern action against those responsible for this.
NKF further called on irresponsible parties to stop promoting such scams − preying on a patient’s emotional and mental state of health − especially during trying times like this as our country battles the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It is a very irresponsible thing to do and promoting scams like this is unethical and immoral.
“We would also like to explain that the NKF photo, which was edited and used in the advertisement posting, was from our SHELL Malaysia event back in 2019. The event titled ‘Anda Pam, Kami Derma’ was a campaign held during the 2019 Hari Raya festive season in collaboration with SHELL Malaysia,” said Dr Zaki.
In the social media posting, the wordings on the banner held in a group photo between NKF and SHELL Malaysia were replaced with the words ‘No dialysis required. Completely cure kidney disease’. To date, there is no known cure for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), but there are treatments that can help, in addition to receiving an organ transplant.
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Malaysia is a non-profit charitable organisation dedicated to helping Malaysians suffering from end stage kidney failure who lack access to or cannot afford dialysis treatment. NKF currently has over 1,700 dialysis patients receiving subsidized dialysis treatment in 27 dialysis centres nationwide. For credible information about kidney disease, treatment options, medication and to get the latest updates, do visit NKF’s official website at www.nkf.org.my or send an email to info@nkf.org.my
