On 26 February 2021, the European Kidney Health Alliance launched a call to action for EU leaders to improve Chronic Kidney Diseases (CKD) prevention, treatment and care in the aftermath of COVID-19. This call to action, which has been endorsed by 89 European stakeholders, including the University of Nicosia Medical School, urges policy makers to include four key recommendations in future EU policies and initiatives to address the long-term challenges surrounding CKD in Europe:

  1. Augment efforts on CKD prevention;
  2. Collect and share data on CKD at EU level;
  3. Promote home therapies, transplantation and the uptake of digital tools;
  4. Make research and innovation in Kidney Replacement Therapy an EU priority.

75 million people suffer from CKD in the EU, and projections estimate that CKD will be the 5th leading cause of death worldwide by 2040. Hence, it is expected that CKD will be one of the greatest public health challenges in the next decades.

Read the call to action here.