Kidney disease remains major cause of mortality in Africa, Middle East—Experts

Eminent healthcare professionals have revealed that Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing as well as developed countries.

This was the warning by eminent healthcare professionals, who also proposed measures to prevent cases from continuing to rise and to improve outcomes for people already living with CKD.

The analysis and recommendations of the Middle East and Africa CKD steering committee (MEA-CKD) were published this week in the International Journal of Nephrology and Renovascular Disease.

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The paper demonstrates that, despite the severity and prevalence of CKD, steps to improve prevention and treatment of the disease in the region remain minimal.

According to them, the disease is associated with 35.8 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), one-third of which is attributed to diabetic kidney disease.

The paper noted that many primary healthcare professionals are not trained to identify CKD warning signs and that novel and upcoming therapies that have been shown to improve kidney outcomes are not accessible across different healthcare settings in the regions.

It notes that many primary healthcare professionals are not trained to identify CKD warning signs and that novel and upcoming therapies that have been shown to improve kidney outcomes are not accessible across different healthcare settings in the regions.

The authors recommended that governments and healthcare providers should take urgent measures to improve patient outcomes, including awareness campaigns, increased screening; augmentation of epidemiological studies to include more participants from these regions; implementation of evidence-based international guidelines related to CKD; and improved access to novel therapies.

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“The rise of chronic kidney disease in the Middle East and Africa is alarming but not inevitable. This paper establishes a set of clear and cost-effective measures for governments to take to stem the rise in cases and slow the progression of the disease in those who already live with it, while also tackling life-limiting risk-factors including diabetes and hypertension,” said Prof Mohamed Hassan, Consultant Nephrologist, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi.

“Tackling the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, including chronic kidney disease, should be a priority for governments in our region. To do this effectively, more epidemiological studies looking specifically at patients with CKD in the Middle East and Africa must be performed,” said Dr Ali Abu-Alfa, Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon.

The publication acknowledges that low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can face additional hurdles to tackling the rise of CKD, including a lack of functional health insurance systems to secure access to novel treatments.

To address this disparity, it suggests practical studies to evaluate the cost effectiveness of novel therapies and financial support or subsidised programmes to ensure their availability.