This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
World Kidney Day 2019: Kidney health for everyone everywhere
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
This year’s World Kidney Day, which takes place annually on the second Thursday in March, focuses on encouraging countries to invest in health care to better diagnose and treat CKD, according to a press release. Its theme is “Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere.”
According to the release, the International Society of Nephrology and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations have engaged in a joint effort to raise awareness of the disease which, according to 2017 estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Studies, show CKD as the 12th leading cause of death worldwide and the sixth fastest growing cause of death between 1990 and 2017.
“Screening of high-risk individuals and early diagnosis and treatment is cost-effective to prevent or delay end-stage kidney diseases requiring dialysis or transplantation,” Guillermo Garcia, MD, co-chair of the World Kidney Day Steering Committee for the International Federation of Kidney Foundations, University of Guadalajara Health Sciences Center in Mexico, said in the release. “However, where these services are needed, countries must have transparent policies governing equitable and sustainable access.”
In a related editorial, Deidra C. Crews, MD, ScM, associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a member of the World Kidney Day Steering Committee, and colleagues, noted that many countries have limited data related to the full burden of kidney disease due to inconsistent data collection and surveillance practices. According to the researchers, the poor quality of data regarding both non-dialysis CKD and ESRD is of concern.
The researchers also stressed the need for AKI and CKD to be better acknowledged on the global policy agenda and that “rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socioeconomic, cultural and pollical factors, leading to significant disparities in disease burden, even in developed countries,” with racial/minority groups and people of low socioeconomic status carrying the highest burden.
“Although universal health coverage may not include all elements of kidney care in all countries (because this is usually a function of political, economic and cultural factors), understanding what is feasible and important for a country or region with a focus on reducing the burden and consequences of kidney disease would be an important step toward achieving kidney health equity,” the researchers concluded. “World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management.”
References:
https://www.worldkidneyday.org/
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0085253818308081?via%3Dihub
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.