This year’s World Kidney Day, celebrated on March 13, coincides with a window of opportunity to advance kidney disease screening as a global health priority. At both the World Health Assembly and the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs, policymakers will be called upon this year to Make the Change for Kidney Health.
In May, when WHO Members States gather in Geneva for the World Health Assembly, delegates could vote to make kidney disease a recognized and prioritized noncommunicable disease (NCD). It would join currently prioritized diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, respiratory disease and mental health conditions. Last month the WHO Executive Committee recommended that the assembly adopt a resolution that’s been introduced by Guatemala to “invest in health systems to integrate prevention, early detection, and management of kidney disease into national health policies.” The resolution would also incorporate kidney management into UHC benefit packages.
In addition to prioritizing kidney disease, the resolution instructs the WHO Director General to provide technical support to Member States as they implement the WHO “best buys” and integrate “comprehensive kidney care” into UHC benefit packages.
The Executive Committee’s recommendation is a credit to Guatemala, the 15 countries that co-introduced the resolution, and the International Society of Nephrology, which has long advocated for WHO to prioritize kidney health. There is still a chance, however, that the rocket will never reach the launch pad. Due to newly anticipated budget constraints at the WHO, there is a review taking place of which resolutions will appear on the World Health Assembly agenda.
What happens at the World Health Assembly in May likely will influence the agenda and decisions made by the United Nations in September, when it convenes a High-Level Meeting on NCDs. So a good place for the WHO to start is making screening more accessible for people at risk of kidney disease. In WHO parlance, early detection and treatment of kidney disease is a “best buy.” It saves more lives for less money while benefiting patients and caregivers and reducing the burden on healthcare systems and the environment.
The priorities established in global forums certainly influence national health policy. In the end, however, it is national policymakers who must act to Make the Change for Kidney Health.
For advocates, World Kidney Day is an occasion to call on national policymakers to support the kidney health resolution at the World Health Assembly and to prioritize access to screening and early treatment at the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs. These critical discussions can spur timely and much-needed change toward integrating prevention, early detection, and kidney disease management into national health policies and UHC benefit packages.
Read the Policy Brief: Screening for Chronic Kidney Disease; Addressing the Gathering Storm.