EKHA

EKHA is an alliance of four societies created in 2007 to focus the attention of the political community and, through the media, of people at large, on the burden of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) considering patients’ morbidity/mortality as well as the socio-economic impact of dialysis and transplantation in Europe: besides the ERA-EDTA, the European Kidney Patients’ Federation (EKPF, former CEAPIR), the European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses’ Association/European Renal Care Association (EDTNA/ERCA) and Dutch Kidney Foundation (DKF) are EKHA management committee members.

The EKHA management committee, which includes two representatives of ERA-EDTA nominated by the Council, works closely with the people involved in the European health organization to increase the awareness on CKD throughout Europe.

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Renew your membership and add just a few Euros to your fee: this amount will be used exclusively to support the activities of EKHA.
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EKHA upcoming webinar on the future of kidney care in light of COVID-19: Tuesday 27 October – 10:00-11:45 CET

On Tuesday 27 October from 10:00 to 11:45 CET, EKHA will hold a webinar entitled: “Towards a resilient and patient centered approach to kidney care in Europe – Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic and harnessing future preparedness”. The event will explore sustainable solutions to improve kidney care whilst raising awareness of the substantial burden experienced by CKD patients as a result of COVID-19.

Access the agenda: here
Don’t miss your spot and register now: here

One week left to answer the survey on NCDs and COVID-19

The Global Non-Communicable Disease NCD Alliance, is undertaking a comprehensive online consultation of people living with non-communicable disease including patients and carers.

You can respond to the survey here until 25 October 2020 (available in English, French and Spanish).

EKHA contribution to the hearing of the “Expert Panel on effective ways of investing in health”

EKHA has drafted a position paper ahead of the 20th October hearing of the Expert Panel on effective ways of investing in health, an independent group established by the European Commission. The paper highlights the heavy toll taken by Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients as a result of the outbreak, the lessons learnt from this crisis and potential solutions to improve kidney care. Kidney patient Marion Bracks will represent EKHA during the hearing.

EKHA input on the new EU pharmaceutical strategy

Over the summer, EKHA has sent its contribution to the public consultation on the EU pharmaceutical strategy. In this paper, EKHA is calling for ambitious action to improve the availability and affordability of innovative drugs and devices for the treatment of kidney failure.

ECDA Open Letter to AGRIFISH Council – Front of Pack Nutrition labelling

On the occasion of World Food Day and ahead of the next AGRIFISH Council, ECDA has issued an open letter to Ministers responsible for Agriculture to express its support for the adoption of a harmonized, interpretative and mandatory EU front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling system after seven member states have raised concerns on the implementation of such an initiative across Europe.

Read the full story and access the letter: here

EKHA sends open letter to EU policy makers: 5 key recommendations to improve prevention, treatment & care of Chronic Kidney Disease in the aftermath of COVID-19

On 22 September, EKHA has sent an open letter to EU officials to ensure that kidney patients’ needs are not overlooked in current negotiations on the EU recovery plan and the overall budget.

You can access the full letter here.

EKHA, on behalf of ECDA, meets with European Health Commissioner Kyriakides to discuss the EU response to chronic diseases

On 18 September, Prof. Raymond Vanholder, on behalf of the European Chronic Disease Alliance (of which EKHA holds the presidency), met with the Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides to discuss chronic disease prevention and control in Europe, the EU4Health programme and Europe’s Beating Cancer plan. The Commissioner reaffirmed her commitment to do more for Europeans’ health, in particular in the field of chronic disease, in the aftermath of COVID-19.

Read the full article here.

EKHA contributes to article: ‘Funding kidney research as a public health priority: challenges and opportunities’

The new article published in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (NDT) discusses the important role that scientific societies can play in interacting with funding bodies to optimize the allocation of research funding in Europe.

Read more and access the full article via the link here.

2020 European Kidney Forum recording

The full recording of the 2020 European Kidney Forum webinar on improving organ donation and transplantation in the EU is available online via this link.

Read more about the webinar on the EKHA website.

EKHA’s latest publication on dialysis reimbursement and distribution of kidney replacement therapies

EKHA has recently published a new article entitled ‘A call for harmonization of European kidney care: dialysis reimbursement and distribution of kidney replacement therapies’ in the Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (NDT) Journal.  A summary of the article’s key findings can be found here.