MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Jamaica Standard Products, organisers of the annual High Mountain Coffee Road Race, was able to up its donation this year to the Haemodialysis Unit of the Mandeville Regional Hospital (MRH) from funds generated from the event.

The $650,000 cheque that was handed over on Wednesday to aid in the care of kidney patients compares to approximately $350,000 in 2014 and $500,000 in 2013.

John O Minott, general manager of the family-owned, Williamsfield-based Jamaica Standard Products, said the hope is to raise even more funds for the dialysis unit in Mandeville.

Mandeville Regional Hospital administrators expressed gratitude for the support, saying they are challenged by a long waiting list of kidney patients and not enough resources to meet all the needs.

“Before the availability of the dialysis services many of these patients would just die prematurely,” said Senior Medical Officer Dr Everton McIntosh.

He said two of the main causes of kidney failure are the effects of uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes, which are lifestyle diseases.

McIntosh said that dialysis is “horrendously” expensive, as ideally a person with end-stage kidney disease needs three treatments per week costing an average of $15,000 each.

Chronic kidney disease, he said, affects multiple organs and the financial burden to sustain quality of life can over time reduce a comfortable middle-class family below the poverty line.

McIntosh said that the unfortunate situation is that space becomes available at the Haemodialysis Unit to accommodate new patients primarily when a patient dies.

Though efforts are being made to ensure patients get the required care, chief executive officer of the Mandeville Regional Hospital, , Alwyn Miller, was among those advocating for a preventative approach through healthier lifestyles.

“One has to only talk to a patient to understand the severe challenges experienced medically, socially and financially, while seeking to hold on to life,” he said.

Delroy Campbell, who has been on dialysis at the Mandeville Regional Hospital since 2010, said that it was in an effort to provide a kidney for his brother, who needed a transplant, that tests revealed the deteriorating state of his own kidneys.

Although his brother is still alive today due to assistance from overseas, his mother died from kidney failure in 1995, Campbell said.

His 30-year-old daughter is currently one of the patients on the waiting list at the Mandeville Hospital, he added.

“It is not easy,” said Campbell.

He lauded the staff at the Haemodialysis Unit for not only providing the treatment, but quality service, including devotions and showing concern by checking up if patients are not on time.

Minott said that to enable well-wishers who would like to contribute but cannot do so through participation in the annual road race festival, a High Mountain Coffee Wellness Fund (Account Number 644311) is now in place at Scotiabank in Mandeville.