World Kidney Day 2020: Theme, history and significance

Today is World Kidney Day 2020. Here is what you need to know about the importance of celebrating this day.

By: Editorial Team | | Updated: March 12, 2020 12:11 pm

World Kidney Day aims at spreading awareness about preventing renal diseases and tackling the challenges associated with it. © Shutterstock

Kidney disease affect millions all over the world. According to the estimates of the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) almost 850 million people suffer from renal conditions, globally. One in 10 adults are affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD), points out the international body. These numbers are increasing alarmingly. These figures are a call for action for sure. World Kidney Day is celebrated every year to raise awareness about the range of kidney diseases that afflict a large cross section of the global population. The day is observed on the second Thursday of March. The theme for World Kidney Day 2020 is Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere – from Prevention to Detection and Equitable Access to Care.

The celebration of World Kidney Day started in the year 2006 in 66 countries. Since then, health organizations all around the world commemorate this day. It is a global awareness campaign initiated jointly by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the IFKF. With the aim of spreading awareness about the burgeoning burden of kidney diseases all over the world and the importance of preventive measures and primary care, IKF and ISN have laid out the following objectives for World Kidney Day 2020.

Renewed focus on primary care, awareness raising and education including patient empowerment and cross-specialty training
Integration of CKD prevention into national NCD programs for comprehensive and integrated services, which are essential in improving the early detection and tracking of CKD at country level
Whole-of-government, whole-of-society, health in all policies, multisectoral collaboration to promote prevention of kidney disease

Challenges in tackling kidney diseases

How much ever strange it may sound, socio-economic factors contribute significantly to the ever-growing burden of kidney diseases. CKD and AKI have often been found to be the outcome of the social conditions in which an individual is born, grows, up, lives, works and ages. These social conditions have an assocoation with poverty, gender discrimination, lack of education, occupational hazards and pollution among others . This widens the disparity in kidney health and awareness among the global population. For example, in many cultures, there is a bias against organ donation. This poses a serious challenge to the treatment of kidney failure.

Moreover, not every part of the world has access to the infrastructure required for kidney transplant. It is a cost-effective treatment for CKD. This procedure requires high set-up cost, extremely sophisticated technology and highly-trained specialized professionals. Unfortunately, all these prerequisites will take long to be available in many countries.

Unfortunately, specific policies motivated towards the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of kidney diseases are yet to be formulated in many countries even if they have well-planned national strategies in place for non- communicable diseases (NCDs). More than 53 per cent of the countries with an NCD plan lack the vision and strategy required to improve the care for CKD patients.