Kidney Patient Advocacy Community Joins National Effort to Raise Awareness about Health Crisis Impacting more than 26 Million...( - DaVita Patient Citizens Promote...),Health

- DaVita Patient Citizens Promotes National Kidney Month Programs to Combat Spread of Kidney Disease; Incidence on the Rise Nationwide -

WASHINGTON, March 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- DaVita Patient Citizens (DPC) -- a national patient advocacy group comprised of more than 22,000 dialysis and pre-dialysis patients and family members, working to improve the quality of life for all dialysis patients through education and advocacy -- enthusiastically supports National Kidney Month and applauds the kidney community nationwide for participating in this important initiative to educate Americans of the dangers associated with kidney disease and the importance of kidney health and disease prevention.

Members of the DPC community, including caregivers, dialysis patients, and their family members, will participate in programs throughout the month to educate communities across the country about Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). National Kidney Month is also a time for the kidney care community to reach out to policymakers to engage in dialogue about the need for policies that protect a growing number of patients with kidney failure, as well as education and prevention programs to stop the spread of this health crisis in America. DPC will host a member fly-in in Washington, DC during National Kidney Month -- where kidney patients can discuss CKD with their elected officials.

"Educating our neighbors about the importance of kidney disease early detection and prevention is critical. There are 26 million Americans with CKD, and millions more are at risk of developing the disease -- it's up to us to help inform about its risk factors to help them avoid it," said Chad Lennox, Executive Director of DPC. "We hope that during National Kidney Month, lawmakers will also recognize the enormity of kidney disease's impact on the nation, and will take action to help fight it."

Chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension -- the two leading risk
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