Kidney disease is the inability of the kidneys to filter blood as they should.

A joint initiative conceived a World Kidney Day of the International Society of Nephrology and the International Federation of the Kidney Foundation. It started on the 2^nd of March 2006 with 66 countries participating.

The purpose of this day is to raise awareness on the importance of the kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.

The theme for this year, 2021, is: “LIVING WELL WITH KIDNEY DISEASE,” to increase education and awareness about effective symptom management to improve the health of people living with Kidney Disease to improve the quality of life and empowering participation in their overall well being and citizenry.

I have come across so many people living with kidney disease like an Uncle of mine, who goes through a lot, week after week to survive, requiring Hemodialysis, a treatment whereby blood is removed from the body and filtered through an artificial membrane called a dialyzer, or artificial kidney. Then the filtered blood is returned to the body. In this process, wastes and water are filtered from your blood, as your kidneys did when they were healthy. Hemodialysis helps control blood pressure and balance important minerals, such as potassium, sodium, and calcium, in your blood.

He goes through this once or twice a week, depending on the condition to filter blood complemented with blood transfusion. He also lives on essential medication, which requires a lot of money. The majority of people living with Kidney Disease in Cameroon and other low- and middle-income countries end up dying for several reasons you can already perceive. Cost, access to quality care, etc. How many people can sustain this?

Now, what are the RISK FACTORS OF KIDNEY DISEASE? The following conditions or behaviors are the risk factors for developing kidney disease. They include Obesity, Hypertension, Smoking, and Diabetes. If you have been to the hospital or not, yet, you have any of these aspects in your life, you are at risk of kidney disease. Action needs to be taken to prevent Kidney disease and its complications. This includes practicing or ensuring the following:

• Avoid smoking
• Limiting excessive consumption or misuse of alcohol
• Eating healthy fruits and vegetables as much as you can in your diets.
• Drinking at least 2 to 3 liters of water per day
• Limiting the consumption of salt (avoid adding salt to your diet)
• Frequent emptying of the bladder (Don’t wait until you are too pressed to relieve yourself)
• Regular exercise (15-30 minutes daily won’t kill you. It will save you and help you become smarter)
• Frequent check on blood pressure and blood sugar. (This is now being done in many health facilities, some for free or at 500 FCFA such as in CBC Health Facilities)
  
  The tips above are handy if you don’t yet have kidney disease. But if you are already a person living with Kidney disease, or know one, feel free to do all the above in addition to the following:                                                                                                                                  Seek to belong to a patient support group for Kidney disease or other NCDs such as your hospital-based clinic groups for psychosocial and other peer or professional support.

Join our advocacy group for People Living with Chronic NCD Conditions called Our Views Out Voices. We work together to advocate the government and other communities for better care to PLWNCDs (Contact us on WhatsApp at +237674733730 for modalities to join).

Seek as much help as you can to cover the cost of care.

Pray.

Lastly and also, most importantly, avoid all the risk factors so that you can be safe from the extreme severities of complications that come with continuous exposure to salt, alcohol, smoking, stress, and others mentioned. 

Declaration: This article was co-authored by Mabel T. And Ferdinant M. S.