Foundation targets Chronic Kidney Disease
November 26, 2009A new Rural Health Education Foundation television program airing on Tuesday 8th December emphasises the need for a targeted approach to the prevention, detection, and management of chronic kidney disease.
Chronic Kidney Disease: A Silent Condition examines risk factors and the need for early detection, and discusses how to manage the various stages of chronic kidney disease.
The hour-long simultaneous live broadcast and webcast also discusses issues in the delivery of chronic kidney disease care, with a specific focus on Indigenous and rural populations.
A silent condition that is often preventable
“Chronic kidney disease is referred to as a silent condition because up to 90% of kidney function can be lost before symptoms are evident,” says Rural Health Education Foundation CEO Don Perlgut. ”But the statistics speak loud and clear, with chronic kidney disease contributing to almost 10 percent of all Australian deaths in 2006.”
“Every year, more Australians are having dialysis or transplant for end-stage kidney disease,” Mr Perlgut says. ”Our new program will help health professionals to identify chronic kidney disease factors for early detection, and to formulate a patient management plan for the various stages of this long-term health condition - a condition that is often preventable.”
Presented by an expert panel
The program format is a panel discussion chaired by Dr Norman Swan, Presenter of the Health Report on ABC Radio National.
The panel of medical practitioners features Ms Anne Blong, a Chronic Kidney Disease Nurse Practitioner in the Townsville Health Service District; Professor David Harris, Associate Dean of Sydney Medical School - Westmead, University of Sydney; Dr Beres Joyner, a General Practitioner and Member National Standing Committee Quality Care, RACGP; Dr Tim Mathew, the National Medical Director of Kidney Health Australia; and Dr Paul Snelling, Renal Physician & Senior Staff Specialist in Nephrology at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.
Program funding
Chronic Kidney Disease: A Silent Condition is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
Broadcast details
Chronic Kidney Disease: A Silent Condition will be broadcast across the Rural Health Education Foundation’s satellite television network on Tuesday 8th December at 8.00pm (AEDT), with repeat broadcasts at 8.00pm Perth time that same evening (three hours later) and 12.30pm on Friday 11th December.
Available via satellite, as a web-cast, web-streaming and DVD
This program will be available for viewing live as a “simulcast” via the Foundation’s satellite network and via web-casting from our website. (Please register for the live web-cast in advance through the program summary page).
DVD copies of this program will be available after the broadcast via our website. The program will also be available free on the Internet for viewing via web-streamed video or listening via an audio podcast.
About chronic kidney disease
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a long-term health condition that is often preventable. In 1999-2000 one in seven Australian adults over the age of 25 years had some degree of chronic kidney disease, and in 2006 chronic kidney disease contributed to more than 1.1 million hospitalisations.
The major risk factors for CKD include fixed factors such as age, being male, and ethnicity. Other risk factors which are common in the Australian population include behavioural factors such as smoking, and biomedical factors such as high blood pressure and obesity. Progression of CKD can often be slowed by controlling these modifiable risk factors and by improving disease treatment and management.
Chronic kidney disease is also common among Indigenous Australians who are six times as likely as other Australians to be receiving dialysis or to have had a kidney transplant.
More information
For more information about this program - including presenter details, access instructions and associated educational resources - refer to the online program summary or contact the Foundation.