The ISN Continues to Lobby to Raise Kidney Disease to the Top of the Agenda During Global Week for Action on NCDs
Today marks the start of the Global Week for Action on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs), with activities taking place worldwide to raise awareness of the urgent need for increased financing to prevent and treat NCDs and build resilient health systems.
With an estimated 41 million deaths yearly, NCDs constitute the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries, where four out of five people live with an NCD.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD), however, is still not included among the NCDs explicitly targeted by the WHO Global Action Plan for the prevention and control of NCDs (2013-2020), even though it affects approximately 850 million people and is projected to become the 5th cause of death globally by 2040.
This presents an enormous burden for healthcare systems and negatively impacts health outcomes of other major NCDs, namely diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Prioritizing CKD prevention in national NCD policies would not only reduce the burden of end-stage kidney disease but also improve outcomes of other NCDs and substantially reduce overall NCD morbidity and mortality.
To this end, while supporting the goals and implementation of the Global Action Plan, the ISN continues to work alongside the WHO and other partners to make kidney health a priority on the global NCD agenda and to emphasize the clinical, economic and social burdens of kidney disease, at present frequently underestimated.
