EKHA’s Kidney Manifesto, “An EU Strategy to Improve Kidney Care”, presents to EU policymakers our main priorities to improve kidney health in Europe, which should be acted on during the 2024-2029 EU political term. EKHA will be engaging with newly elected and returning MEPs from the start of the new mandate onwards, to communicate the urgent need to devote attention to kidney health as part of EU policy.

In Europe today, CKD presents a heavy and growing burden but suffers from a blatant lack of recognition in European health policies and initiatives. This results in a lack of awareness, absent prevention measures, late diagnosis, gaps in funding for research and innovation, and poor patient outcomes. EKHA’s Kidney Manifesto identifies 3 key priorities to improve kidney health in Europe:

• Improving the primary and secondary prevention of kidney disease, through the implementation of an EU code for CKD prevention.
• Improving organ donation and transplantation in the EU, through the implementation of a second EU Action Plan on Organ Donation and Transplantation.
• Fostering innovation in kidney therapies, through stimulating public-private partnerships for innovative therapies.

In engaging with MEPs, it will be vital to show the unity of the European kidney health community, which widely recognises the need to continue addressing kidney disease at the level of the EU to combat CKD and promote better kidney health in Europe. To achieve this, the support of your organisation, as a key stakeholder in kidney health, for our Kidney Manifesto would be of great value. When embraced by key actors in the European kidney health landscape, the Kidney Manifesto will gain further credence, amplify the voice of the kidney community, and send a strong signal to European decision-makers about the need for EU action to improve kidney health. Against this backdrop, we warmly invite you to endorse the Kidney Manifesto, which you will find here. In addition, please also find below template communications materials to amplify the Kidney Manifesto within your network, should you want to do so.