Kidneys always on his mind-Dato Dr. Zaki Morad

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Spotlight: Kidneys always on his
mind
15 Sep 2006
ANNIE FREEDA CRUEZ
After 30 years of dedicated service at the Kuala Lumpur
Hospital, consultant nephrologist Datuk Dr Zaki Morad Mohd
Zaher is clocking out for the last time today, but don’t
expect kidney diseases to be far from his mind, writes
ANNIE FREEDA CRUEZ.
WHILE many people can’t wait to get out of a hospital, consultant
nephrologist Datuk Dr Zaki Morad Mohd Zaher is reluctant to leave.
Not after 30 years
of calling the Kuala
Lumpur Hospital
his second home.
When we caught
up with him a few
days before his
retirement, Dr
Zaki’s office was in
a mess as he
packed his medical
tomes, and
stacked medical
CDs into boxes.
It is not that he
dreads the
prospect of
clocking out for the
last time today,
but his sadness stems from the fact that he can no longer serve his
patients with the same dedication he had shown all these years.
Celebrating his 56th birthday on Monday, Dr Zaki has come a long
way from the day he reported for duty. Then, he was one of only
two specialists in the nephrology department. The other was (Tan
Sri) Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman, who later became the director-general
of Health.
Recalling the challenges of those early days, Dr Zaki, who has the
distinction of being KLH’s longest-serving doctor, said: "It was a
depressing period as there were only two of us, six dialysis
machines and a handful of beds.
"Hundreds of kidney patients were referred to us from all over the
Local News
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2. WWW NST country every year, and many had to go home disappointed
because there were no available beds and not enough dialysis
machines."
The dialysis machines, he said, were dinosaurs which required
patients to sit for eight hours, unlike today’s machines which only
need four hours to do the job.
"By the time the patients finished their sessions, they could hardly
walk."
What a contrast to his current surroundings where there is now an
entire institute dedicated to urology and nephrology, with state-of-
the-art facilities, the latest diagnostic machines and a kidney
transplant team.
There are now five consultant nephrologists, six specialists, seven
medical officers and a team of well-trained allied healthcare staff.
"All major hospitals in the country are now well equipped to handle
kidney patients, with many providing dialysis treatment," he said,
adding that this was also available in remote parts of the country,
including Sabah and Sarawak.
Despite the hardship of his early days at the Kuala Lumpur
Hospital, Dr Zaki was never tempted to join his peers in private
practice.
"More kidney patients come to government hospitals for treatment
compared with private hospitals. I felt I could serve them better if I
stayed on here ."
Born on Sept 18, 1950, Dr Zaki’s aptitude for learning was evident
from his school days in Langkawi, where he completed his
education at a younger age due to double promotions.
He was offered many scholarships, including one for engineering
overseas, but he opted to further his studies in Malaysia.
He obtained his MBBS from Universiti Malaya in 1975.
Dr Zaki started his career at KLH in 1976. He did a brief stint at the
Kangar Hospital, in Perlis, before returning to KLH, where he served
in the nephrology unit with Dr Abu Bakar before joining the
department of medicine for two years.
He was handpicked by Dr Abu Bakar to be a nephrologist, and sent
for a two-year training stint in Britain.
Upon his return, at the age of 33, he was promoted to consultant
nephrologist.
Three years later, in 1987, he was appointed the head of the
department of nephrology.
During his tenure, Dr Zaki introduced special areas in nephrology,
and developed critical care nephrology, interventional nephrology,
glomerular disease and chronic kidney disease prevention — and
widened the scope of transplants and dialysis.
He also spearheaded the initiative to improve the quality in dialysis
by introducing haemodialysis standards.
Dr Zaki, who headed the Clinical Research Centre in the Health
Ministry from 1999, has produced a number of publications in
collaboration with other researchers.
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3. Asked about his vision, he said: "I want the government to take a
proactive role in reducing kidney cases in the country by working
together with primary care providers, as it’s very expensive to treat
kidney patients. There is a need for a national programme."
While he may no longer be actively involved in the treatment of
patients at KLH, Dr Zaki has no intention of taking things easy.
He intends to take up an offer to lecture at the International
Medical University.
Dr Zaki is currently the president-elect of the Asian Pacific Society
of Nephrology, a member of the Education and Curriculum Advisory
Committee, International Society of Nephrology (ISN), and
chairman of the sub-committee for the Southeast Asia Commission
for the Global Advancement of Nephrology of the ISN.
He is also the vice-chairman of the National Kidney Foundation.
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