World Kidney Day 2018

World Kidney Day (WKD) is a joint initiative of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF).

The next World Kidney Day will be held on Thursday March 8, 2018. The theme for 2018 will focus on Kidneys & Women's Health.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide, public health problem with adverse outcomes of kidney failure and premature death. CKD affects approximately 195 million women worldwide and is currently the 8^th leading cause of death in women, with close to 600,000 deaths each year.

The risk of developing CKD is at least as high in women as it is in men and may even be higher according to some studies. CKD is more likely to develop in women, compared with men with an average 14% prevalence in women and 12% in men. However, the number of women on dialysis is lower than the number of men. At least three major reasons are recognized so far:

• CKD progression is slower in women compared to men
• Psycho-socioeconomic barriers such as lower disease awareness lead to late or no start of dialysis among women
• Uneven access to care is a major issue in countries with no universal access to healthcare.

Kidney transplantation is also unequally spread, mostly due to social, cultural and psychological aspects.

World Kidney Day aims to:

• Raise awareness about our "amazing kidneys"
• Highlight that diabetes and high blood pressure are key risk factors for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
• Encourage systematic screening of all patients with diabetes and hypertension for CKD
• Encourage preventive behaviours
• Educate all medical professionals about their key role in detecting and reducing the risk of CKD, particularly in high risk populations
• Stress the important role of local and national health authorities in controlling the CKD epidemic.