Kidney Wales Foundation providing vital equipment and support to Welsh Patients on World Kidney Day 13 March 2014
The Global Message is start today with a glass of water
Kidney Wales Foundation a lead UK charity on renal organ failure announced the need today to ensure awareness of kidney disease on World Kidney Day.
To mark the occasion of World Kidney Day, Kidney Wales Foundation today procured a BioCon-500 Bladder Scanner for University Hospital of Wales in the Heath. The Scanner would be used in Nephrology & Transplant Clinic, Transplant Unit and Ward B5.
Melanie Wager, Patient Advocate at Kidney Wales Foundation said, “ It is an item that the staff at UHW have been trying to fundraising for in the past year. This is an example how Kidney Wales Foundation can help the kidney patients in Wales; along with social care and research grants. We also will be distributing over £130,000 in research funding in the next 12 months and are always working on supporting patients across Wales at all ages.”
Melanie added “It is apt that World Kidney Day reminds us that Kidneys age, just like you – about 1 in 10 people have some degree of CKD. Kidney disease can affect people of all ages and origins. Although Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) can occur at any age, it becomes more common with increasing age. After the age of 40, kidney filtration begins to fall by approximately 1% per year. On top of the natural aging of the kidneys, many conditions, which damage the kidneys, are more common in older people including diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. This is important because CKD increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, and in some cases can progress to kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation.”
On World Kidney Day, have a glass of water
On World Kidney Day (WKD), the whole civil society, governments, health professionals and patients around the globe are invited to start their day with a glass of water and to encourage their families, friends and co-worker to do the same. This symbolic gesture brings a powerful connection with a common and simple act to get everyone to think about their kidneys on March 13. Water may protect your kidneys.
The WKD Steering Committee IFKF Co-chair, Prof. Guillermo Garcia Garcia encourages everyone to support World Kidney Day: “Drinking a glass of water will not cure your kidneys, but will certainly help you to remember that you need to take care of them. So join us and start your day on 13 March 2014 by drinking a glass of water, and hopefully this daily act will be a powerful reminder in the future”.
Today is the ninth World Kidney Day,an annual day of global action jointly organized by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF). World Kidney Day (WKD) is the most widely celebrated event focused on kidney health across the globe. Most of all, it is the yearly occasion to raise awareness about the dangers of kidney disease and to send a clear message to the general public and governments that CKD is common, harmful and treatable.
In the words of WKD Steering Committee ISN Co-chair Prof John Feehally: “Our mission is to stimulate awareness, discussion, education and policy development leading to improved prevention and treatment of CKD. This year’s theme is focused on CKD and aging: about half of people aged 75 or more have some degree of CKD. We want them to be smart about their kidneys by taking a simple blood and urine tests to detect CKD early. Our message to the general public is: talk to your doctor.”