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The ISN is pleased to share its report on the “Global Kidney Policy Forum 2022: Building Healthier Sustainable Communities to Safeguard Kidney Health.”

Access the report here.

The report highlights kidney health challenges and possibilities affecting the Oceania and South-East Asia region as presented at this year’s Global Kidney Policy Forum (GKPF).

Hosted at WCN’22, the GKPF comprised a panel of kidney health professionals and patients, including keynote speakers Dr. Slim Slama, head of unit, WHO NCD Department; Dr. Amrish Krishnan, nephrologist, Fiji’s Colonial War Memorial Hospital; and Dr. Ong Loke Meng, national head of nephrology services, Ministry of Health Malaysia.

The GKPF, based on the 12 recommendations to global kidney health, presented an international overview of kidney health and proposed concrete policy actions to improve delivery and access to kidney care to address the “catastrophic annual expenditure as a result of kidney disease across low- and middle-income countries,” (Dr. Slim Slama) which affect more than 180 million people worldwide.

The forum analyzed pan-regional issues and solutions to kidney care, stressing the importance of investment in education for primary care physicians, prevention programs and early CKD diagnosis. Valuable contributions from kidney patient advocates like Mr. Manvir Victor, chair of the ISN Patient Liaison Advisory Group, highlighted the active role patients can and should play in encouraging governments to adopt policies that facilitate kidney transplantation.

Expanding on the progress made by Dr. Krishnan in Fiji and Dr. Ong in Malaysia in improving kidney health care equality and sustainability, the ISN will be working with partners in the region to support policymakers and politicians in transforming GKPF recommendations into reality and help redress the disparities of accessibility and quality of care in the region.