The General Manager of Samoa's Kidney Foundation, Penny Matautia, says there have been unexpected benefits to the opening of the renal dialysis unit in Samoa.
A huge growth in the waiting list has revealed the size of the problem of those with diabetes in Samoa.
But not all the 187 on the list need dialysis right away.
Penny Matautia says being able to see the seriousness of the treatment is in itself an incentive to keep as healthy as possible:
"'In fact when they come in and see just how intrusive the actual procedure is and people learn the difficulties in terms of pain and all this for the patients, they learn more. So having them exposed to the actual treatment I think has been useful."
A fundraising drive has just collected over 50 thousand US dollars for the unit.
