American Kidney Fund Announces Launch of Health Equity Website to Advance Kidney Health for All

ROCKVILLE, Md. – The American Kidney Fund (AKF) today launched a new website aimed at improving health equity in kidney disease, with a focus on reaching people from racial and ethnic minority groups who are most disproportionately affected by end stage renal disease (kidney failure). The site will serve as a hub for education and outreach as part of AKF's work focusing on health equity, race and kidney disease.

AKF's Kidney Health for All microsite (www.KidneyHealthForAll.org) was developed with critical early support from Presenting Sponsor AstraZeneca. Additional support was provided by Presenting Sponsors Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company, Travere Therapeutics, Inc., and Vertex Pharmaceuticals; Equity Sponsor Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.; and Merck.   

The website centers around four pillars that comprise AKF's health equity initiative:  

• Preventing and slowing the progression of kidney disease
• Increasing diversity in clinical trials to reflect the populations the medications will treat
• Increasing awareness and utilization of home dialysis, which can result in better outcomes, as an available treatment option
• Increasing access and removing barriers to kidney transplantation among people of color

In the U.S., the prevalence of kidney failure — the final stage of chronic kidney disease — among Black people is more than four times that of white people, while the prevalence of kidney failure in Hispanic or Latino people is more than twice that of white people, according to the U.S. Renal Data System. 

"The crisis in kidney disease has continued unabated, and nowhere has it been felt more than in underserved communities," said LaVarne A. Burton, AKF President and CEO. "We must do more collectively to tackle health disparities and inequities in health care, which have had an immeasurably devastating impact in the kidney community. We are grateful to Astra Zeneca for its early and continued support of our health equity work, and to all our sponsors, who are helping support a critically important part of our mission to fight kidney disease on all fronts."

AKF also thanks its Health Equity Coalition, comprised of nearly two dozen organizations and leaders that advise and help guide development of evidence-based programs and resources, as well as all the AKF patient and family Ambassadors and others who provided firsthand experiences and insights, helping to inform content. 

"AstraZeneca is honored to partner with AKF in developing this life-saving platform for kidney patients through our Act on Health Equity initiative," said Sarah Walters, Vice President, US Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolic Diseases (CVRM). "We believe that no patient should lack access to the screening, resources, and care they need to live the best life possible. AstraZeneca remains focused on working with key healthcare partners who share our vision to create equitable access for all."