American Kidney Fund Receives Support from Bayer to Expand Kidney Disease Education Among U.S. Veterans

ROCKVILLE, Md. (May 27, 2021) — The American Kidney Fund (AKF) today announced support from Bayer for AKF's effort to educate Veterans about the central role their kidneys play in their overall health and the importance of early detection to prevent or slow the progression of kidney disease.

Bayer's collaboration supports AKF's existing partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration to increase awareness of kidney disease among U.S. Veterans and to support Veterans who have been diagnosed with kidney disease.

"About 500,000 U.S. Veterans have kidney disease, and that number continues to trend upward by 6% each year, as it has for the past five years," said LaVarne A. Burton, AKF president and CEO. "We are grateful for Bayer's support of our work to reach out to Veterans — a population that faces higher rates of kidney disease compared to the general public."

"A major risk factor for chronic kidney disease is type 2 diabetes and many Veterans living with type 2 diabetes do not realize they are at risk," said Amit Sharma, M.D., FACP, FASN, FNKF, Vice President of Medical Affairs, Cardiovascular & Renal Division, Bayer. "Bayer is proud to support AKF's work to educate America's Veterans on kidney disease risk factors, early detection and disease management, to help all Veterans living with kidney disease live healthier lives."

Kidney disease is the fastest growing noncommunicable disease in the U.S., yet 90% of Americans, including Veterans, with the early stages of kidney disease are unaware they have it because there are typically no symptoms until the later stages. Diabetes and hypertension cause 75% of all new cases of kidney disease.