Chronic kidney disease the eighth cause of death among women globally

Eight to ten percent of adults globally suffer from some form of chronic kidney disease and their numbers are rising constantly, the Hellenic Society of Nephrology (HSN) said on Thursday citing international data.

In a joint celebration of International Women’s Day and World Kidney Day, both falling on March 8, HSN announced at a press conference a national campaign to raise women’s awareness about early diagnosis of kidney disease.

The Society cited global studies to show that by 2030 end-stage chronic kidney disease will affect 5.4 million people who will need to submit to dialysis, double those of 2010.

HSN also cited data according to which Greece had 10,453 registered individuals undergoing hemodialysis (at 164 hemodialysis centers) in 2016, 713 undergoing peritoneal dialysis (at 33 peritoneal dialysis) and 2,651 patients who had undergone kidney transplants (at five transplant centers).

According to the European Renal Association, Greece had a very high number of patients who underwent dialysis in 2015, compared to other European countries, and a very low number of patients who underwent kidney transplants (11 per one million residents).

In addition, HSN said, the number of women who suffer from chronic kidney disease globally totals 195,000,000. Currently, kidney disease is the eighth cause of death for women, and 600,000 women die from the disease every year.