Sounding the alarm on chronic kidney disease in farming communities: María Isabel Rodríguez MD. Minister of health, El Salvador. Interview by Conner Gorry.
In April 2013, a consortium of regional health ministries, nongovernmental organizations, aid agencies, clinical specialists and researchers from diverse sectors convened in San Salvador to discuss the epidemic of chronic kidney disease of unknown or non-traditional causes (CKDu) plaguing agricultural communities in Central America and beyond. The three-day meeting, where presentation of research on the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of CKDu roused significant debate, led the Pan American Health Organization to declare CKDu "a pressing and serious health problem [which] represents a burden for families, communities, health systems and society as a whole."[1] This High-level Meeting on Chronic Kidney Disease of Non-Traditional Causes in Central America (24-26 April) followed several international meetings at which Dr María Isabel Rodríguez, El Salvador's Minister of Health, presented studies on the disease burden in her country, where end-stage renal disease is the leading cause of hospital deaths. She outlined results of original scientific research by Dr Carlos Orantes (first published in MEDICC Review), that described an "elevated prevalence of chronic kidney disease, chronic renal failure and risk factors" among the patients studied, noting that "the most common [form] was chronic kidney disease of unknown cause, associated with neither diabetes nor hypertension."[2] In this interview with MEDICC Review, Dr Rodríguez discussed the gravity of the problem in Salvadoran agricultural communities; the importance of CKDu research in other countries; and the urgent need for intersectoral action and active community participation to confront and control the epidemic.
María Isabel
MI
Rodríguez
D000383:Agriculture; D002489:Central America / Q000453:epidemiology; D004544:El Salvador / Q000453:epidemiology; D058872:Epidemics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*