New research sheds light on scale of kidney disease in Scotland
- Area of Work: The ALLIANCE
- Type: News Item
- Published: 5th June 2023
The report has investigated the health economics of kidney disease, which affects an estimated 607,000 people in Scotland.
Kidney Research UK have published a major new report on the health economics of kidney disease, ‘Kidney disease: A public health emergency’. According to the report, kidney disease costs the NHS across the UK approximately £6.4 billion each year, amounting to around £566 million in Scotland. In addition, the report identifies a further £600 million of costs external to the NHS across the UK each year
The report states that in 2023 there are expected to be 2,123 people in Scotland on kidney dialysis, 212 people receiving kidney transplants, and 52,000 acute kidney injury episodes per year. Over the course of the next decade these figures have the potential to increase significantly, with potentially as many as 10,000 people receiving dialysis and 863 transplants per year.
Kidney disease is the tenth biggest cause of death worldwide, yet despite the large and growing health and economic impacts of kidney disease, it only received 1.4% of relevant public healthcare research funds in the last financial year. However, the research also suggests that four key interventions could save over 10,000 lives over the next ten years: early/improved diagnosis; improved management of chronic kidney disease; increased uptake of new inhibitor meditations; and increased rates of transplantation.
Both a full and summary version of the report are available from Kidney Research UK’s website, in addition to a data exploration tool allowing figures to be broken down by NHS Scotland health board area.
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