Celebrated every year on the second Thursday of March, World Kidney Day (WKD) is a global campaign that aims at increasing awareness of the importance of kidney health and reducing the impact of kidney disease and its associated problems worldwide.
This year WKD and the International Women’s Day 2018 are commemorated on the same day, offering us the opportunity to reflect on the importance of women’s health and specifically their kidney health. On its 13th anniversary, World Kidney Day promotes affordable and equitable access to health education, healthcare and prevention for kidney diseases for all women and girls in the world.
According to the WKD website, http://www.worldkidneyday.org/, chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects approximately 195 million women worldwide and it is currently the 8th leading cause of death in women, with close to 600,000 deaths each year.
Healthcare professionals are encouraged to share key objectives of the WKD campaign, which include:
- Raise awareness about how diabetes and high blood pressure are risk factors for kidney health, and encourage preventive behaviors,
- Educate all medical professionals about their key role in detecting and reducing the risk of CKD, and
- Encourage transplantation as a best-outcome option for kidney failure, and the act of organ donation as a life-saving initiative.
To download 2018 campaign materials, got to http://www.worldkidneyday.org/2018-campaign