In the present day world, with so much information available, it is always good that the public have knowledge about the function of various organs and the diseases that affect these organs. This will help to combat the widespread ignorance amongst public, better management and even prevent various diseases. Globally a particular day is earmarked for a particular organ/disease, so that through various awareness campaigns throughout the globe on this particular day people are made aware about that organ or that disease. World Kidney Day (WKD) is the day to know more about our kidneys and the diseases that affect this equally important organ in our body.

WKD is celebrated every year on the 2nd Thursday of March. It started as a small initiative in 2006 and over last 2 decades has expanded into a worldwide campaign to aware the common person about various aspects of kidney health, with an aim to reduce the frequency of kidney diseases, help retard the progression in those who already have early kidney disease by timely and appropriate intervention.

This year on 12th March we are celebrating the WKD with the theme – “KIDNEY HEALTH FOR ALL – CARING FOR PEOPLE, PROTECTING THE PLANET”.

Kidney diseases are ever increasing and its most dreadful form CKD is estimated to affect a billion people worldwide (1 in 10 suffer from CKD) and result in over 3 million deaths in the coming decade. Presently, kidney disease ranks as the eighth leading cause of death, and if left unaddressed, it is projected to be the fifth leading cause of years of life lost by 2040.

The first part of this year’s theme is “Kidney health for all” meaning that all the population in the world should has access to the care needed to diagnose and treat any kidney disease- be it affluent or poor, be it of any race, religion or from any region. In our valley there has been a lot of progress on this front with facilities of managing any kidney disease being available in all the districts as well as tehsils. Access to kidney disease screening, tools for early diagnosis and sustainable access to quality treatment are the inequities that were there some years ago. However, this inequitability has been addressed largely with specialists now available to deal with the increasing number of patients, hemodialysis facility available in all district hospitals (under the national dialysis program) and many private dialysis centers. Free of cost dialysis under the central/UT sponsored scheme has made it available to everybody. Besides SKIMS the kidney transplant surgery is now done at GMC Jammu and SSH Srinagar. This is the equitable part of health care being given to everyone.

The subtheme of this year’s WKD is the connection between kidney health and the environment, highlighting the role of environmental factors like pollution and heat in affecting kidney health. Besides the traditional risk factors like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, family history of kidney diseases, the role of environment as a risk factor to affect the kidneys has been increasingly recognized over last 1 decade. Working in hot weather with resultant dehydration, role of air pollution, drinking contaminated unsafe water are now being listed as important preventable risk factors in certain pockets of the world. Also important is to understand that hemodialysis as treatment of CKD is responsible for effects on environment in that each session would utilize a considerable amount of ultrapure water, utilize electricity as well as result in a considerable amount of plastic waste and leave a carbon footprint equivalent to driving a car for around 240 kilometers. These hazardous effects need to be mitigated with changes in the procedure of dialysis which is to go as much greener as possible.

WKD over its twenty-year history (2006-2026), has been successful in bringing global attention to kidney as an important organ as well as the diseases that affect it. This has resulted in – collaborations among the global renal community; educating healthcare policy makers, overhauling funding and healthcare delivery systems to prioritize early diagnosis and prevention in individuals at the highest risk for CKD. The risk factors arena for CKD like diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and obesity have been expanded to include pollution, climate change as well being responsible for kidney disease and thus encourage lifestyle modifications, mitigate environmental challenges and timely medical intervention.

With awareness through various campaigns done on the WKD and intermittently throughout the year, we can help people and as well guide the authorities to make plans to manage patient with kidney diseases with prompt preventive strategies, equitable facilities, and proper management. The mission on WKD is to addresses the fact that kidney disease is common, harmful, and treatable, yet often goes undetected due to a general lack of public awareness.

Dr Muzafar Maqsood Wani,

Consultant Nephrologist, SKIMS, Soura

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