Bangladesh has two crore kidney patients and nearly 40,000 of them die annually due to renal failure, according to the Kidney Foundation. Kidney Foundation secretary Prof Md Muhibur Rahman told BSS that the number of chronic kidney patients increased by 50 per cent over the last 10 years and currently 18 per cent of the country's total population is suffering from the disease. Describing the situation as "alarming," he said that the number of the country's kidney patients could rise by 28 to 30 per cent in the next 10 years if the trend continued. According to Kidney Foundation statistics at least 80 to 90 per cent of the kidney patents die due to lack of proper treatment. A kidney patient, according to it, has to spend at least Taka two lakh a year on hemo-dialysis twice a week and Taka 2.50 lakh for dialysis thrice a week. According to the foundation 64 per cent of the patients, suffering total kidney damage, have to sell their property for affording treatment, while 20 per cent have to borrow, 10 per cent gets government help and five per cent takes help from charitable organisations. Only five to eight per cent of the patients, according to the foundation statistics, can bear the treatment expenses on their own. In Bangladesh, Professor Rahman said, kidney transplantation is done at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Kidney Foundation Hospital and BIRDEM Hospital in the public sector. Besides, he said, there are 40 dialysis units across the country. The limited number of hospitals equipped with the treatment facilities, he said, cannot cope with the rush of kidney patients. Founded in October 2003 with a six-bed dialysis unit at a rented house at Dhanmondi in the capital city, Prof Rahman said, the Kidney Foundation Hospital now has a 20-bed dialysis unit, the largest in the country. He said due the pressure of kidney patients, efforts were on to set up 10 more dialysis units to treat more patients. The hospital started kidney transplantation in 2006, he said. Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus laid the corner stone of an international standard kidney hospital to be set up at Mirpur in the city to provide treatment to the country's growing kidney patients, he said. It would have the facilities to transplant kidney on four patients a week. Initially, he said, it would have a 40-bed dialysis unit, which would be increased to 200 beds in the second phase.