Marking World Kidney Day, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) will have a traditional celebration open to the public on Saturday at Heritage Village. The aim of the celebration with the theme “Protect your kidneys, save your heart” is to raise public awareness on the importance of protecting the kidneys against disease, and of early detection to prevent progression of the disease to end stage.
HMC is holding the celebration as part of a series of activities in observance of World Kidney Day. According to Dr Saifatullah Khan, nephrology specialist at HMC, two international speakers from the Global Kidney Academy (GKA) will visit HMC and deliver lectures at Hajar Auditorium. GKA has also organised a master class for family physicians on abnormal urine test and abnormal kidney function test at the Primary Healthcare Centers.
Nursing staff and volunteers will provide free blood pressure and blood sugar checkups on March 10 and 11 at the main lobbies of Hamad General Hospital and Al Khor Hospital, as well as at City Center, Villaggio and Landmark malls. Brochures containing information on kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cardiovascular disease will be available for the public. “More than 500 million people worldwide suffer from kidney disease in its various stages,” said Dr Khan.
“In Qatar and other GCC countries, kidney disease is increasing parallel to the incidence of hypertension and diabetes. One of the main causes of the prevalence of kidney disease is the silent nature of the chronic disease. Early detection is of utmost importance in protecting against the progress of kidney disease to end stage renal failure,” he stressed.
“The best way to avoid this is to prevent the end stage disease, by controlling factors that lead to kidney disease.”
The Peninsula