Combating the rising tide of kidney advocacy in Europe: the seminal role of the European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA)

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the most prevalent and fatal chronic diseases. However, the political attention CKD receives is not proportional to its significant human, economic and ecological burden. One major reason is the lack of awareness among the general population and policymakers. As a result, investment in the therapeutic approaches to CKD have largely remained inadequate, while existing therapies did not change for decades. To respond to the lack of awareness of CKD, several European and international kidney care societies, supported by national and regional organizations, founded the European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA) in 2007. This Alliance is a Brussels-based advocacy organization representing people with kidney diseases and the kidney care community at the European Union level, and from there, also at the country level. EKHA's aim is to ensure that every candidate for kidney care, irrespective of stage of kidney disease, receives optimal and timely treatment, which is affordable at a societal and individual level. This publication reviews the European political landscape, EKHA's history, points of focus and tools for harnessing available data into advocacy on CKD. Areas discussed include prevention and screening of CKD, its health-economic and environmental impact, and the need to facilitate kidney transplantation and home dialysis. We also examine EKHA's specific approaches to enhance kidney care, its affordability and its sustainability. The EKHA model aims at forestalling the burden of CKD and its underestimated economic and ecologic impact.

Keywords: EKHA; European Kidney Health Alliance; European Union; advocacy; policy.

Figure 1:

Evolution of prevalence in Europe of four major NCDs, starting in 1990. The last registration year is 2019. Data were calculated based on the statistics of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD). Green: cancer; red: CKD; blue: cardiovascular disease; purple: diabetes.

Figure 2:

Affiliated membership of EKHA at the date of article submission (27.11.2024), representing 26 nations. Blue: EU member states; orange: non-EU member states; gray: no affiliated members.