ISLAMABAD: An estimated 850 million people worldwide are afflicted with some form of kidney disease which is the eighth leading cause of death worldwide and is projected to be the fifth leading cause by 2040.

With a very conservative estimated annual incidence of approximately 100 per million population, Pakistan is likely to have 25,000 new end-stage kidney disease patients, requiring dialysis or transplantation in 2025.

These views were expressed by Professor K H Mujtaba Quadri, Head of the Nephrology Department at Maroof International Hospital while speaking to media persons in connection with World Kidney Day.

“A more accurate figure may be closer to 50,000. However, only a quarter may have access to dialysis or transplantation,” he said.

This year’s theme for the day, observed this week, was “Are your kidneys OK? Detect early, protect kidney health”.

He said that diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, obesity and a family history of kidney disease remain major risk factors and others of significant burden include acute kidney injury, pregnancy-related kidney diseases, autoimmune diseases, congenital anomalies, obstructive uropathy and kidney stones.

“Low and middle-income countries also have a marked burden of heat stress in farm workers, snake bites, traditional remedies besides Hepatitis B, C, HIV and parasitic infections,” he said.

Professor Quadri suggested that high-risk populations should be screened with blood pressure measurements, body mass index (BMI), urine test, serum glycosylated haemoglobin, creatinine level and kidney function test.

“Pakistan is still barely spending 2.9 per cent of its GDP on healthcare as of 2021 as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics 2021-22.

Extraordinary advocacy is now required to address inequities and disparities as was emphasised last year by the theme of World Kidney Day 2024,” he said.

He said that the Pakistan Society of Nephrology (PSN) has undertaken important initiatives in areas such as advocacy, clinical Nephrology standards, academics, training on dialysis modalities and scaling up of kidney disease research.

“The Nephrology community in Pakistan is committed to providing evidence-based kidney healthcare including widely accessible early detection and treatment modalities. The government must help with widespread screening programmes, provide grants for kidney disease research and subsidise and standardise costs of dialysis machines and associated supplies,” he said.

Professor Quadri suggested that primary care clinicians and frontline health workers should be trained to integrate testing into routine care for high-risk populations.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2025