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World Kidney Day – 14 March 2024 *

* Celebrated on March 9 in many French-speaking areas

It is the topic that’s too BIG to ignore. On Thursday 14 March 2024, join us in highlighting just how big an issue kidney disease is. It’s not a disease that affects only a handful of people: it’s the 10th biggest killer worldwide. Your neighbour could have it. Your parent. Your work colleague. Your child. This year, we need to you to shout it from the rooftops.

We want all our followers to share the message that kidney failure is life-threatening, and that kidney transplants and dialysis aren’t cures but temporary treatments to keep loved ones with us for longer.

World Kidney Day is an annual campaign to help raise awareness of kidneys and show the suffering caused when they don’t work properly. It also aims to educate people on what kidneys do and how to improve your kidney health. How kidney disease affects people like you.

Source: Text: https://www.worldkidneyday.co.uk/    Image: https://www.worldkidneyday.org

About Kidney Disease
In the United States, more than 37 million adults are estimated to have kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney disease (CKD)—and approximately 90 percent don’t know they have it. About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. are at risk for kidney disease. Risk factors for kidney disease include: diabeteshigh blood pressureheart diseaseobesity, and family history. People of Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian American, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. Black or African American people are about four times as likely as White people to have kidney failure. Hispanics experience kidney failure at about double the rate of White people.

About KIDNEY EQUITY FOR ALL™
Historically, access to kidney health has remained inequitable, with persistent disparities disproportionately affecting underserved populations and impacting the entire kidney patient journey. To address these disparities, NKF is urging industry and community leaders to join them on their KIDNEY EQUITY FOR ALL mission by allocating resources to improve healthcare access and outcomes in communities of color. This is a tangible opportunity for businesses to incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles into their operations. For more information on KIDNEY EQUITY FOR ALL, visit www.kidneyequityforall.org.

Source: Text & Image: https://www.kidney.org/news/national-kidney-foundation 

World Obesity Day – 4 March

About WOD

World Obesity Day is a unified day of action that calls for a cohesive, cross-sector response to the obesity crisis. It takes place on 4 March and is convened by the World Obesity Federation in collaboration with its global members. 

Hundreds of individuals, organisations and alliances contribute to World Obesity Day every year, engaging hundreds of thousands of people across the world.

Previous World Obesity Days have encouraged people to recognise the root causes of obesity, increase knowledge of the disease, tackle weight stigma, foreground the voices of people with lived experience and act to improve the world’s understanding, prevention and treatment of obesity.

This year’s campaign theme is ‘Changing Perspectives: Let’s Talk About Obesity’.  We want to harness the power of conversation and stories so that together we can correct misconceptions surrounding obesity and take effective, collective action. Because when we all talk, debate and share, we can shift norms and transform health outcomes for everybody.

You can find out more about World Obesity Day and read about previous campaigns on the World Obesity website.

 

Source: Text: https://www.worldobesityday.org/about-wod      Images: World Obesity Federation    Accellacare

International NASH Day – 10 June 2022

International NASH Day (IND) is a public education campaign launched in June 2018 to raise visibility and urgency around fatty liver disease and its more advanced form, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which affects more than 115 million people around the world.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a hidden epidemic. It is the progressive form of Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and affects more than 115 million people worldwide. An estimated 357 million people will be affected by 2030. Because NASH symptoms are often not overt, NASH is often underdiagnosed and underreported. NAFLD and NASH are major risk factors for concurrent conditions: more than 70% of patients are obese, up to 75% have type 2 diabetes, and anywhere from 20-80% have hyperlipidemia. Unchecked, NASH may lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver transplant.

Against this backdrop, the first International NASH Day was launched on June 12, 2018, with the goal of raising awareness about NASH and the actions people can take to prevent the disease. In 2021, International NASH Day was held on June 10, under the leadership of Global Liver Institute, gathering together more than 120 partners worldwide and successfully launching events and screenings, briefings, media outreach, and social media campaigns globally. Now entering its fifth year, we invite you to join us again as we mobilize our collective efforts to #StopNASHNow!

Source: Text & Image: international-nash-day.org

World Heart Day – 29 September

Heart Day is part of an international campaign to spread awareness about heart disease and stroke prevention. This is the perfect day to quit smoking, get exercising and start eating healthy – all in the name of keeping your ticker in good working order, and improving the health and well being of people the world over.

The World Heart Federation have found that heart disease and strokes are the world’s leading cause of death, killing 17.1 million people every year – that’s more than victims of cancer, HIV and AIDS and malaria.

Overeating, lack of exercise, unhealthy diets and high blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels are all factors which can trigger heart disease and threaten our own lives, and those of loved ones. Heart Day was set up to drive home the message that heart problems can be prevented.

The aim is to improve health globally by encouraging people to make lifestyle changes and promoting education internationally about ways to be good to your heart. This lesson is becoming increasingly relevant as reports of obesity, poor diet and physical inactivity in children and young people become more and more common.

Source: Text: DAYSoftheYEAR  Image: fr.dreamstime.com

 

World Diabetes Day – 14 November

home_slider_first-pngWorld Diabetes Day was first introduced in 1991, and founded by both the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization. In reaction to the rise in cases of Diabetes worldwide, it was decided to choose a day of the year to raise awareness of Diabetes and related causes. The day chosen was the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, a medical scientist who co-discovered Insulin and was the first person to use it on humans.

The theme of World Diabetes Day regularly changes. For example, the theme for the day between 2009 and 2013 was education and prevention, and in the past such themes have been used such as human rights, lifestyle, obesity, the disadvantaged and vulnerable, and children/teenagers. Various events around the world mark the day including raising awareness in the media, lectures and conferences, sporting events, and leaflet/poster campaigning. “Going blue” is another global event to mark the day, where people wear blue and landmark buildings and monuments around the world are lit up in blue, to help spread awareness of the day.

Source: Text: Daysoftheyear   Image: International Diabetes Federation

World Hypertension Day – 14 May

WorldHypertensionDay_SmallThe WHD was first inaugurated in May 2005 and has become an annual event ever since. The purpose of the WHD is to promote public awareness of hypertension and to encourage citizens of all countries to prevent and control this silent killer, the modern epidemic. The theme for World Hypertension Day is Know Your Numbers with a goal of increasing high blood pressure (BP) awareness in all populations around the world.

Hypertension is very common indeed and hence a major public health issue. The prevalence is expected to increase considerably in the coming years. In 2000, the estimated number of adults living with high blood pressure globally was 972 million. This is expected to increase to 1.56 billion by 2025! Lifestyle factors, such as physical inactivity, a salt-rich diet with high processed and fatty foods, and alcohol and tobacco use, are reasons for this increased disease burden, which is spreading at an alarming rate from developed countries to emerging economies, such as India, China and African countries.

Adequate treatment of high blood pressure lowers this cardiovascular risk towards normal levels. However, the biggest problem for controlling hypertension is compliance with treatment. Despite very effective and cost-effective treatments, target blood pressure levels are very rarely reached, even in countries where cost of medication is not an issue. Sadly, many patients still believe that hypertension is a disease that can be ‘cured’, and they stop or reduce medication when their blood pressure levels fall to normal levels. Despite the availability of effective and safe antihypertensive drugs, hypertension and its related risk factors (obesity, high blood lipids, and diabetes mellitus) remain uncontrolled in many patients. One often talks about ‘the rule of the halves’: Only one half of the patients with high blood pressure in a population have been diagnosed, only half of those detected have been treated, and only half of those treated have been adequately treated to a normal blood pressure.

Source: Text & image: International Society of Hypertension