Within the events of the National Campaign for Kidney Diseases Awareness and Prevention and in continuation of the campaign's activities, the Assistant Agency for Hospital Affairs organized yesterday (Sunday) morning a workshop on the campaign as well as its objectives and programs, under the sponsorship of His Excellency the Assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Hospital Affairs, Dr. Nehar Al-Azmi and with the attendance of directors of health awareness from all health affairs directorates in all the Kingdom's regions and provinces.
In a speech he delivered on behalf of the Assistant Deputy Minister for Hospitals Affairs, the Supervisor of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Center for Kidney Diseases, Dr. Muhammad bin Nasser Al-Aumi, explained that kidney diseases have become a worrying international phenomenon, pointing out that according to international statistics, the rate of incidence of chronic kidneys diseases exceed 600 million persons, nearly 14.2% of the world population. Locally, he said, there are about 15,000 persons with kidney failures; more than two thirds of them undergo dialysis operations.
He added that kidney diseases are known as the silent killer because their symptoms do not appear unless after a period of time. "Kidney diseases have widely spread in the world," Dr. Al-Aumi said, adding that the Kingdom was affected also by this kind of diseases, which may cause a kidney failure in the long run, according to the records of the kidney dialysis centers and units in the Kingdom.
Dr. Al-Aumi confirmed that the Kingdom spares no effort to undertake its role of confronting the disease through two main axes: the prevention aspect via awareness campaigns and health promotion, and the therapeutic and patient care aspect, pointing out that such gatherings are considered a main pillar to get acquainted with the latest developments of preventive and therapeutic programs, in order to reach the best precautionary measures to cope with the kidney failure and its causes and symptoms.
He underscored the importance and need for performing periodic tests for kidney functions, highlighting the important role of awareness in raising spirits of kidney patients. He also called for educating Patient's families and contacts about the best way to deal with the kidney patients and exploring misconceptions about the disease and correcting them using evidence-based medical information.
On her part Ms. Daleel Ghazi Al-Shammary underscored the importance of health education in promoting patients' knowledge about their health condition, urging correcting some of the patients' concepts and habits. During a presentation she delivered about the campaign and its objectives, Dr. Al-Shammary said that such health education is not restricted to the patients and their families only, but it should include also all segments of the society.
She went on saying that the campaign's mission is to raise the level of the community awareness of the importance of kidney functions and diseases and ways of protection against them. The campaign targets also briefing the society members on the risk factors of kidney diseases and ways of reducing the impact of such diseases on the kidney patients. "The National Campaign for Kidney Diseases Awareness and Prevention also aims at reaching all member of the community," she said.
Al-Shammary added that the objectives of the campaign include raising awareness of the importance of kidney functions in the human life and shedding light on the main risk factors affecting the kidney, such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and genetics, in addition to encouraging those with risk factors to check their kidney functions periodically. She also indicated that the campaign aims at promoting prevention behaviors against kidney diseases such as quitting smoking, maintaining an ideal weight, exercising, adopting a balanced diet, not taking medicine without consulting a specialist doctor and drinking enough liquids.