Why Chronic Kidney Disease Belongs on the WHO Agenda

The impact of chronic kidney disease worldwide is immense – and growing. As a new report from the Global Alliance for Patient Access explains:  

• More than 800 million people live with chronic kidney disease 
• More than 1 million people die of chronic kidney disease each year 
• Most chronic kidney disease patients live in low-to-middle income countries 
• 1.5 million cardiovascular deaths annually are related to impaired kidney function

The report reflects insights from global chronic kidney disease stakeholders, who gathered earlier this year in Washington, DC, at a meeting convened by the Global Alliance for Patient Access. Stakeholders emphasized that early detection and treatment of chronic kidney disease are necessary to mitigate patients’ disease progression.  Slowing disease progression, stakeholders noted, is critical to avert the ballooning burden of chronic kidney disease. 

Additional benefits of early detection and treatment noted in the report include: 

• Enhancing patients’ quality of life 
• Improving management of comorbid conditions 
• Alleviating caregiver burden 
• Producing long-term cost savings 
• Reducing stress on overburdened health systems
• Minimalizing the environmental impact of dialysis

To achieve these benefits, stakeholders concluded, policymakers must: 

• Prioritize efforts to improve awareness about chronic kidney disease among clinicians and patients 
• Address access barriers to risk-based diagnostic screening

As those assembled this week in Geneva recommit the WHO to addressing the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases, chronic kidney disease should be prioritized alongside cancers, cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions and diabetes.  Routine screening for at-risk patients, and access to early treatment, will significantly benefit patients, healthcare systems, government budgets and society alike.