*Maureen Hand and Dermot Hayes.
A national fundraising drive and information campaign has begun to celebrate World Kidney Day.
As part of World Kidney Day today (Thursday), the Irish Kidney Association has launched a nationwide fundraiser and information campaign, a registered charity supporting thousands of kidney patients and their families.
“One person in one” is the slogan of the Health Awareness Campaign, with volunteers from 25 branches of the charity raising funds at Aldi stores nationwide.
This is the second year of IKA, which uses World Kidney Day as the focus of its major grassroots fundraising campaign. According to a report by Tilda, chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects one in 10 people, with one in seven people over 50 years old knowing 98% of the population.
The campaign also aims to highlight how CKD can be detected by GP through simple blood or urine tests. Early detection and management can slow or prevent disease progression to end kidney disease (ESKD), the only treatment that is dialysis or transplant.
There are about 600 people on the waiting list for the heart, lung, liver kidney, or pancreas in Ireland at any time, and about 500 people are waiting for a kidney transplant.
Claire's branch of the Irish Kidney Association will hold an AGM on March 27th at Cois Na Habhna. The current chairman is Dermot Hayes, a well-known activist from Colofin.
