Some quick facts

A lot of people ask me about what causes the high rate of kidney failure. I have added a few facts below that might help. The facts are taken from the Kidney Health Australia web site. 

• 1 in 3 adults are at increased risk of developing Cronic Kidney Disease (CKD):
• 1 in 9 adults have at least one clinical sign of existing CKD
• A person can lose up to 90% of their kidney function before experiencing any symptoms
• Approximately 1.7 million Australians may be affected by early-stage kidney disease and don't know it
• 11.3% of all deaths in Australia are due to, or associated with, kidney failure
• Every day about 6 Australians commence expensive dialysis or transplantation to stay alive
• About 50% of all organs transplanted from deceased donors are kidneys
• Most people with CKD will die from cardiovascular causes before requiring dialysis or transplantation
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders experience excessive death and disability due to CKD

Dialysis

• A total of 10,341 people were receiving dialysis treatment at the end of 2009
• 23% were receiving dialysis at a hospital, 30% were dialysing at home and 47% in satellite centres
• Home dialysis includes:
  • continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (8% of all dialysis)
  • automated peritoneal dialysis (12% of all dialysis)
  • home haemodialysis (9% of all dialysis) - this is the type of dialysis that I do.
• Rates of home haemodialysis range from 14% in New South Wales to 1% in South Australia

Transplantation

• One organ and tissue donor can save up to 10 lives and imporve the lives of many more.
• Australia is a world leader for successful transplant outcomes, yet has one of the lowest donation rates in the developed world.
• As at 31 December 2009, 1,105 of the 10,341 people receiving dialysis (11%) were on the transplant waiting list, but typically only 6% receive a transplant each year.
• 58% of people on the waiting list are aged between 45 and 64 years, and 80% are waiting for their first transplant
• The average waiting time for a transplant is about 4 years, but waits of up to 7 years are not uncommon.
• On average one Australian dies each week while waiting for a transplant
• The survival rate following a kidney transplant is high - 98% of recipients are alive at 1 year, and 88% are alive at 5 years
• In 2010 there were 548 kidney transplants recipients from deceased donors.
• Live kidney donations represented 40-44% of all kidney transplants

How much does kidney failure cost the Australian Health System?

• The best available evidence we have on cost per person per year on dialysis is:
  • hospital haemodialysis - $79,072
  • satellite haemodialysis - $65,315
  • home haemodialysis - $49,137 - this is what I do. 
  • peritoneal dialysis - $53,112
• The costs of treating end-stage kidney disease from 2009 to 2020 is estimated to be around $12 billion to the Australian Government
• Increasing the use of home dialysis over the next 10 years is estimated to lead to net savings of between $378 and $430 million for the health system