SNPhA Takes on Chronic Kidney Disease
Nearly 26 million people in the United States may have chronic kidney disease (CKD) and many of them are unaware of this. CKD is a condition that affects the kidney’s ability to filter blood effectively, leaving many waste and toxins in the body’s blood circulation that can lead to other health complications. Since CKD is a condition that rarely makes a person feel ill or show any symptoms, it becomes even more imperative to raise awareness of it. After diagnosis by a blood or urine test, simple lifestyle changes can help slow down the disease progression and prevent kidney failure.
While the UCSF School of Pharmacy is deeply involved in community outreach for diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic diseases, the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) identified a need for CKD awareness and strives to initiate a call to action. As an organization aimed at improving health education and literacy in the community, SNPhA at UCSF hopes to raise awareness both in the upcoming group of health care professionals and the community at large.
On Thursday, May 12, 2015, students at UCSF School of Pharmacy wore green to support World Kidney Day. Pictures were posted through social media using the hashtag “#worldkidneyday” to join the national movement created by the World Kidney Day joint initiative of ISN and IKFK.
As a step towards taking on the CKD challenge, we will be participating in The National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Walk on Sunday, May 31, 2015 at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. We welcome all UCSF students to help us in the effort by joining Team SNPhA or donating to CKD!
The link to donate to the SNPhA UCSF team is: http://donate.kidney.org/goto/SNPhA-UCSF
Reference: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chronic Kidney Disease Surveillance System. Atlanta. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Dept of Health and Human Services; 2011. http://www.cdc.gov/ckd.
