In celebration of World Kidney Day, the European Kidney Health Alliance is delighted to invite you to its luncheon event, organised in collaboration with the MEP Group for Kidney Health on 5 March 2013. Leaders from European kidney and chronic disease organisations, patients and MEPs will debate “The Alarming Rise in the Incidence of Chronic Kidney Disease in Europe – How to Deal with this Costly Problem”. The event will also be the first occasion to welcome the new Chair of the MEP Group for Kidney Health, Ms Zofija Mazej Kukovic MEP, former Health Minister of Slovenia, and advocate of increasing political priority for chronic kidney disease.

Guest Speakers: 

• Prof Norbert Lameire, UZ Ghent, Belgium and Chairman of EKHA 
• Per Åke Zillén, Swedish kidney patient and Author 
• Dr Ron T. Gansevoort, Dept of Nephrology, UMC Groningen, The Netherlands

Topics of Discussion: More than 10% of the European population suffers from chronic kidney disease (CKD). This shockingly large number of people affected is of grave concern first because many of these will progress to end-stage kidney disease, which requires life on dialysis or transplantation. This is a personal and economic tragedy for those affected and consumes disproportionate amounts of healthcare resources. Second, CKD even in its earliest stages greatly increases the risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease, the largest and most expensive health care threat we confront in Europe today.

This raises a number of question which will be discussed during the luncheon: 

• Implications of rising CKD on European healthcare budgets 
• How to involve patients and to increase public awareness? 
• Can chronic dialysis be avoided? Can Europe find a better solution? The European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA) is an Alliance of not-for-profit organisations who represent the key stakeholders in kidney health issues in Europe.