An estimated 20.8 million Americans have diabetes and about 50 million Americans have high blood pressure. In addition, millions of Americans have some form of kidney disease. Closer to home, more than 14,000 Georgians currently need some type of dialysis treatments to stay alive. For the majority of patients, transplantation is not an option. Because the two leading causes of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) are diabetes and high blood pressure, it becomes apparent that the solution lies in prevention.

As leaders, we must encourage people to view themselves as a partner in their overall health care. Emphasis must be shifted to prevention strategies and healthy lifestyle changes versus treatment only. We must embrace a holistic approach to treat the whole person and not just one organ. Education, intervention and early detection are the keys to raising the awareness level in the general population about chronic kidney disease, diabetes and hypertension. Prevention strategies and educational resources must be available to people at their point of need by people they trust.

As a leader in the fight against chronic kidney disease, the National Kidney Foundation of Georgia (NKFG) feels that collaboration is the key. Collaboration is necessary because no one entity or organization has the resources to solve the problems alone. By coming together as community partners and stakeholders, we can combine our resources to identify and develop solutions to problems that plague our community. Working together will produce a greater impact on the communities we serve. We have developed two leading edge programs to address some of these problems. The Kidney Early Evaluation Program (a free screening program designed to identify individuals at increased risk for kidney failure) and People Like Us Live (an interactive patient education program for people with kidney disease, their families and health care professionals). If your organization is interested in joining the National Kidney Foundation of Georgia (NKFG) as a community partner or scheduling an event, please contact us at 1-800-633-2339 x25. Check out our community calendar home page