World Kidney Day 2016

Thursday 10 March is World Kidney Day – a global campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of our kidneys.

Each year on World Kidney Day, hundreds of awareness-raising events take place across the globe – from public screenings to Zumba marathons!

The goal is to promote awareness about the importance of maintaining your kidney health, preventive behaviours, risk factors and the impact and frequency of kidney disease.

World Kidney Day also acts as a reminder to practitioners to make sure they are talking to their patients about how best to look after their kidney health.

Practitioners should reinforce that diabetes and high blood pressure are key risk factors for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), while encouraging all patients with diabetes and hypertension to undergo systematic screening for CKD.

Preventive behaviours should also be encouraged, including:
– keeping fit and active,
– keeping regular control of your blood sugar levels,
– monitoring your blood pressure,
– eating healthily and keeping your weight in check,
– maintaining a healthy fluid intake,
– not smoking, and
– not taking over-the-counter pills on a regular basis.

For more information, click here.

This year, the World Kidney Day team is putting a particular emphasis on the many children who may be at risk of kidney disease from an early age. It is crucial that practitioners encourage and facilitate education and discussion among children, parents and caregivers about the importance of early detection, a healthy lifestyle and the risk factors.

Educational materials and collateral can be found here.