The International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) and Tamilnad Kidney Research Foundation (TANKER) jointly hosted the 18th IFKF Conference, 2018 from 10th to 12th December 2018 at Hotel Savera, Chennai. The International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) was formed to foster international collaboration and exchange of ideas to improve the health, well-being and quality of life of individuals with kidney disease thereby leading the way for the prevention and treatment of kidney disease. The IFKF has a presence all over the world and helps in establishing more Kidney Foundations and facilitating existing Foundations to become more dynamic and effective.
At the inauguration, the Chief Guest Dr J. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare department, Government of Tamil Nadu spoke about the challenges in handling Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). He said that more efforts were needed in the direction of prevention (diabetes). Even though awareness about the need for lifestyle modification was there, a change in behaviour still needed to come. The audience comprised people working in Kidney Foundations, doctors, kidney patients, caregivers, dialysis technicians, staff, donors and Individuals associated with the cause of kidney disease.
The conference had the best of national and international speakers and provided a wide range of learning opportunities. The international speakers included Prof. Joel D Kopple - USA, Prof. Gamal Saadi - Egypt, Prof. Kamyar Kalantar - USA, Prof. Tilakavati Karupaiah - Malaysia, Mr. Paul Beerkens – Netherlands, Dr. Guillermo Garcia Garcia – Mexico, Dr.Zaki Morad – Malaysia, Prof. Yahya Sagliker– Turkey, Prof. Marc De Broe – Belgium, and Dr. Esther Obeng - Ghana. The faculty from India included Dr. Manisha Sahay – Hyderabad, Dr.Arpana Iyengar – Bengaluru, Dr. Santosh Varughese – Vellore, Dr. Arvind Conjeevaram – Bengaluru, Dr.Digumarthi V S Sudhakar – Hyderabad, Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan, Mrs. Rajalakshmi Ravi, Mr. S. V. Venkatesan, Mr. G. Ananthakrishnan, Dr. Sunil Shroff, and Dr. Sumana Navin, all from Chennai.
There were interesting sessions on CKDu (CKD of unknownetiology) and the possibility of genetic factors compounded by environmental factors having a role to play in this. The talks on policy dialogues in Malaysia and Mexico, as well as CKD screening over 12 years in Jalisco, Mexico emphasised the need to support primary care doctors more and do targeted screening. The sessions on CKD & nutrition – a paediatric perspective, women and kidney health, and living kidney donors underlined the problems faced by vulnerable populations. There were presentations on Sagliker Syndrome, Chronic Interstitial Nephritis in agricultural communities (toxic nephropathy), Acute Kidney Injury in Africa, and Managing HCV. The sessions on Managing and Fundraising for Foundations, Leveraging social media for Foundations, Role of media in influencing the public about organ donation and transplantation, and Awareness & screening In Tamil Nadu yielded critical insights on how to engage with the public. The consensus session dealt with slowing CKD progression with management of nutrition, obesity, and dietitian support. A Global Renal Internet Course for Dietitians (GRICD) is available.
Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee, MOHAN Foundation spoke about the deceased donation and kidney transplantation programme in India. Dr. Sumana Navin’s presentation was on the ‘Role of media – Public education and awareness on kidney failure and kidney donation.’
The sessions were moderated with great precision by Dr. Suresh Sankar.The TANKER Foundation team comprising Dr. Georgi Abraham, Founder; Mrs. Latha Kumaraswami, Managing Trustee; Mr. S. V. Venkatesan, Trustee; Mrs. Rajalakshmi Ravi, Head-TANKER Awareness and Prevention Programme (TAPP); Ms. Padma, Head of Dialysis; Ms. Rohini Menon, Programme Coordinator; volunteers and staff ensured that the conference was well organised with key scientific and cultural takeaways!
About TANKER Foundation
The Tamilnad Kidney Research Foundation (TANKER) which has completed 25 years of Service, was founded on 30th June 1993 and was pioneered by Dr. Georgi Abraham along with a group of like-minded individuals who have taken every effort to live up to its vision of helping needy patients financially, spreading awareness, conducting screening camps and providing subsidised & free dialysis. TANKER was primarily set up to provide financial assistance to underprivileged patients for dialysis, transplantation, investigation, medication costs and also aims at encouraging organ donation.
www.tankerfoundation.org
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