Paper on Kidney Failure in Samoa Published by ISN SRC Emerging Center Doctor
The National Kidney Foundation of Samoa (NKFS) provides the only government-funded dialysis service in the Pacific. In early 2020, with the aid of Dr. David Voss, an ISN Sister Renal Centers partnership was established between NKFS and Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.
Dr. Malama Tafuna’i, from the emerging center, was the medical officer overseeing the dialysis service before taking up a research opportunity funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand. She is currently undertaking a Ph.D. examining CKD in the Samoan community and comparing the prevalence and outcomes of CKD in the Samoan community living in Auckland with those resident in Samoa.
The initial paper from her research documents the prevalence and incidence of kidney failure in Samoa in terms of dialysis patients. The paper “Kidney Failure in Samoa” is the first report documenting such data from the Pacific and has been accepted for publication in The Lancet. The research will help highlight health issues in the Pacific and the need for increased ISN and ANZSN support in the region.
Dr. Tafuna’i is supervised by Professor Rob Walker, director of ‘The Kidney in Health and Disease’ research group based at the University of Otago, New
Zealand, and Faumunia Associate Professor Fa’afetai Sopoaga and colleagues in the Centre for Pacific Health, based at the University of Otago, New Zealand.
The ISN SRC partnership is currently working toward improved identification, treatment, and outcomes of CKD and AKI in Samoa. It aims to establish a program of palliative care for kidney failure and a hospice facility within Samoa.
The ISN is grateful for the support of the ANZSN in this SRC partnership and congratulates Dr. Tafuna’i for her research on advancing kidney health in Samoa.
