EPFL Part of New Alliance for Equal Access to Dialysis Therapy

The dire need of dialysis therapies in lowand middle-income countries has prompted the creation of an interdisciplinary and international alliance that brings together experts from key organizations including EPFL. The EPFL EssentialTech Centre, the African Association of Nephrology (AFRAN), the Francophone Society of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation (SFNDT), the Swiss Society of Nephrology (SSN), and the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (WITS) have formed the RENal care for ALL Alliance (Ren'All Care). The parties have signed a Joint Declaration of Intent with the express purpose of consolidating and accelerating the development of innovative dialysis solutions for acute and chronic patients. Inequality of access directly linked to deaths Inequality in the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic renal failure in LMICs compared to higher income countries cited in the joint declaration is shocking: 80% of patients receiving renal replacement therapy are in high-income regions that only account for 12% of the global population. Furthermore, the societal burden of preventable morbidity and mortality due to kidney disease in LMICs is particularly high, since it affects a much younger population (Figure 1). Just one or two sessions of dialysis is often all it takes to save the life of someone suffering from acute kidney injury. Yet a 2016 review study published in the Lancet Global Health estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa, 86% of adults and 73% of children die when in need of short-term dialysis, due to lack of access.