The Kidney Society team is small, but they do amazing mahi providing support to people (and their whanau and supporters) living with kidney disease in the community. Manager of Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa, Karen Pickering, met with the new CEO of The Kidney Society, Kath Eastwood, for a discussion which was as inspiring as it was sobering.
Although damage to the kidneys potentially has multiple causes, it is a well known complication associated with diabetes. For people with diabetes there is quite a lot known about preventing kidney damage or slowing it's progression with modern treatment and healthy lifestyle choices. There's some information here on The Kidney Society website about kidneys and looking after them.
The numbers of people being diagnosed with kidney disease, and needing dialysis are going up though. So what Kath and her team are thinking about is MORE and BETTER prevention. We fully support this approach at Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa and look forward to working together in the future.
