Kidney Community Gathers on Capitol Hill to Ask Congress to Support Legislation for Increased Kidney Care Education, Updates for Kidney Dialys...( Minority Populations at Greatest ...),Health

Minority Populations at Greatest Risk for Developing End Stage Renal Disease;

More than 26 Million Americans currently suffer from Kidney Disease

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kidney Care Partners, a community-wide coalition of patient advocates, dialysis professionals, caregivers, providers and manufacturers committed to working together to improve quality of care for individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD), today at an educational briefing on Capitol Hill asked Congress to pass legislation for improving kidney health through education and prevention programs as well as develop policies that allow for increased access to quality kidney care and thoughtful reform of the Medicare's End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) benefit. Kidney Care Partners also praised Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Representative Albert Wynn (D-MD), both on hand at the briefing, for supporting the establishment of programs to inform patients of how to identify and manage kidney disease and how to prevent kidney failure.

In recognition of National Minority Health Month, KCP physicians, caregivers and patients addressed the alarming rate at which America's minority populations are being diagnosed with kidney disease and offered promising solutions to this mounting public health crisis. CKD impacts one in four Americans and is on the rise nationwide, especially among minority populations. In fact, minorities in the U.S. are two to four times more likely to reach kidney failure and need life-sustaining dialysis treatment than non-minority populations. According to the National Kidney Foundation, diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure for African and Hispanic Americans. Other common risk factors associated with kidney disease - obesity and high blood pressure - also disproportionately impact African and Hispanic Americans, therefore leading to CKD when not properly treated and maintained.

"Today, the incidence of kidney dise
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