World Kidney Day 2024: Advancing equitable access to care and optimal medication practice

Time To Act And Shift The Focus Toward Building Better Access To Medication For Equitable Kidney Care

BRUSSELS, March 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2019, chronic kidney disease (CKD) was responsible for over 3.1 million deaths, ranking it the 8th leading cause of death worldwide. The global mortality attributed to all kidney diseases is estimated to range between 5 and 11 million annually, particularly impacting low and middle-income countries (LMICs), disproportionately affected by acute kidney injury and facing challenges related to insufficient access to kidney replacement therapy, including transplantation and dialysis.

On March 14, 2024, the World Kidney Day call to action is "Kidney Health for All: Advancing equitable access to care and optimal medication practice" to improve the quality of life and delay disease progression for people living with kidney disease.

Read the full news release here: https://www.worldkidneyday.org/knowledge-bank-files/wkd-press-release-2024/

Masomi Nangaku, president of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), and Latha Kumaraswami, president of the International Federation of Kidney Foundations – World Kidney Alliance (IFKF-WKA), the two organizations that lead the World Kidney Day (WKD) campaign, jointly emphasize that "Overcoming barriers to optimal medication practice poses multifaceted challenges, including economic burdens, limited access to affordable treatments, gaps in disease knowledge, inadequate focus on prevention and early diagnosis, challenges in medication adherence, global policy gaps, a shortage of primary care professionals, and the harmful impact of patient misinformation." Further, they urge that "Addressing these issues is essential to ensure fair access and promote a culture of well-informed and effective medication management."