The specialists call for a new National Plan, which updates the strategy approved in 2015, because, if it continues at its current rate of growth, it will become the second cause of death in our country in a few years.
chronic kidney disease It has increased by almost 30% in the last decade and the number of people in renal replacement therapy has exceeded 1,300 people per million population for the first time. If it continues its current rate of growth, will become the second cause of death in our country in a few years. For this reason, this Tuesday, the Spanish Society of Nephrology (SEN) has requested a new national plan to update the strategy approved in 2015 with the consensus of all the autonomous communities before the “worrying escalation” both the incidence and the prevalence of this type of ailments.
has underlined it the president of the scientific societythe doctor Patricia de Sequeraat the inauguration of a conference organized together with the National Transplant Organization (ONT), on the occasion of the world kidney dayand in which they have participated Beatriz Dominguez-Gil, general director of the ONT; Daniel Gallego, president of the Association for the Fight against Kidney Diseases, ALCER; Juan Francisco Pulido, president of the Spanish Nephrology Nursing Society (SEDEN), and Dr. Carmen del Arco, scientific secretary of the Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Medicine (SEMES).
In the meeting, held at the Ministry of Health, it has been revealed that this escalation of chronic kidney disease. Worrying, say the doctors, because if it continues the trend of these years, it will become the second cause of death in Spain. Furthermore, in two decades, a third of the population will be 65 years old or more -the main segment of the population with this pathology- and, with the current trend, the number of people will have doubled of this age in renal replacement therapy: they are 10% of patients with cancer in Spain, but each one of them supposes 350% more expenses to the health system.
improve prevention
The specialists insist: we must improve policies aimed at improving prevention, delay the progression of the disease and optimize treatment planning. After the increase in the disease, Dr. Sequera points out that perhaps “it has been thought that renal deterioration is inevitableperhaps because the mistaken idea has spread that it is inseparable from aging and that there is no way to prevent it, the truth is that we have not managed to develop a true social awareness in relation to renal pathologies”.
Whenever possible, the transplant option should be offered, says the director of the ONT
For her part, the director of the ONT, Beatriz Domínguez-Gil, has assured that, whenever possible, the option of transplantation should be offered. “Not only because of the improvement in the patient’s quality of life, but also because of the savings that this entails for the health system. Added to this is the fact that the transplant helps to reduce the impact of hemodialysis on the environment,” he pointed out. she.
When talking about prevention, they agree that, among other aspects, it is necessary to promote the provision of support consultations in the psychological fieldsocial, dietary and occupational, involve patient associations in disease prevention activities or promote psychosocial research in renal patients. In addition, according to kidney specialists, should be encouraged living donor transplant and home replacement treatments (home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis), crucial to improve the quality of life of these patients, as well as to reduce costs and guarantee the economic sustainability of the health system, and even to reduce environmental impact.
home treatments
These home treatments have important advantages and hardly any drawbacks: they are not inferior in health results and provide greater security, personal autonomy, better work-life balance, spend fewer resources and are more environmentally efficient in consumption of water, energy and emission of waste into the atmosphere, have emphasized the speakers.
However, employment of these home therapies is well below the use of traditional ones in health centers, therefore, doctors say, it is necessary promote a great cultural change and education for patients, but it must go hand in hand with an increase in resources and a change in the model to provide home support by the system itself, which would result, they highlight, in economic savings in the short/medium term due to the high costs of traditional hemodialysis.
Kidney transplant in Spain
Regarding the real transplant in Spain, they provided data that speaks of the success of the model in Spain: for example, it was reflected that it contributes 3% of all world kidney transplants and 19% from the European area, however representing 0.6% and 9% of the global and European population, respectively: 2,950 transplants of the 15,682 in the EU and 92,529 in the world. Likewise, more than half of the patients (54%) undergoing renal replacement therapy live with a functioning renal graft and the 10-year survival of the Spanish transplant patients it is considerably higher than that of the United States (86.7% versus 76.5% and, in diabetic patients, 71.1% versus 46.3%).
Spain is the world leader in kidney transplants but there is a significant imbalance between the number of patients on the waiting list and the supply of organs
However, although Spain is the world leader in kidney transplants, there is a significant imbalance between the number of patients on the waiting list and the supply of organs for transplantation. Although the donation activity has not stopped growing, the needs are also increasing. To compensate for this, the experts consider it “essential” to promote living donation, a procedure that represents the best option for patients with advanced disease, because its results are better than those of the deceased donor in terms of transplant survival and reduction of complications. In addition, it offers all the advantages in terms of security and planning, for both the giver and the recipient.