Prevention & Advocacy

Chair: Prof Ifeoma Ulasi (Nigeria)
Co-Chair: Prof Boucar Diouf (Senegal)

Committee Members:

1. Prof Kamal Okasha (Egypt)
2. Dr Cheptinga (Kenya)
3. Dr Soriba Bangoura (Guinee)

Terms of Reference

Introduction

Prevention is always better than cure and Advocacy promotes understanding and buy-in of stakeholders. The committee plans to engage all countries in Africa; to strengthen partnerships/relationships between AFRAN and national renal societies as well as international kidney organizations (ISN, ASN, EDTA-ERA, etc.) regional, continental and global organizations (AU, EU, WHO, UN, WAHO, ECOWAS, EMCCA, etc.). Reduction of kidney disease in Africa hinges on robust preventive and early detection/treatment strategies as management of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) entails huge burden (socioeconomic, psychosocial, etc.) on the individual, family, nation and the continent.

Vision

We aspire to excel in promotion of strategies for prevention and delay of progression of kidney disease with the mindset that prevention is better than cure. Also, to advocate for laudable causes for kidney disease prevention and raising kidney health awareness in Africa through collaborations and interactions with the member countries, global and multinational organizations.

Mission

To propagate and ensure prevention and early detection of kidney disease, the committee plans to promote and encourage kidney disease preventive strategies at the primordial, primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
To achieve our mission on advocacy, AFRAN-PAC plans to partner with all stakeholders (communities, governments of member countries, global organizations and multinational unions) to foster understanding of kidney disease, risk factors for kidney disease, and the importance of prevention and early detection in stemming the tide of kidney disease.

Role Of AFRAN-PAC

For Prevention:

Promote programmes such as activities, procedures and policies designed to prevent kidney disease, retard its progression as well as reduce its risk factors. Promote epidemiological studies to determine the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in adults and children, best means of prevention planning.

For Advocacy:

Engage with key policy players and the public to raise awareness about kidney health, kidney disease and its risk factors. Essentially, AFRAN-PAC advocates for the kidney community in Africa by focusing on kidney health promotion, kidney disease prevention, risk factor reduction and delay of progression, and promoting integrated kidney care by reaching out to individuals, communities, non-governmental and governmental organizations at the local, national, continental and global levels.

Core Values

RESPECT– Treat others the way you love to be treated.
INTEGRITY– Know, appreciate and do what is right.
RESPONSIBILITY– Embrace opportunities to contribute as well as help others achieve goals.
SPORTSMANSHIP– Bring your best to all competition.
SERVANT LEADERSHIP– Serve the common good.

Strategies

Prevention

Develop policies to promote primordial, primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of kidney disease such as policies to prevent or reduce risk factors for chronic kidney disease in the population, including strategies to promote maternal and child health and nutrition, safe environments, and to reduce the burdens of non- communicable and communicable diseases.
Promote early detection, preventive and treatment strategies for AKI and acute on CKD.
Improve awareness of kidney disease among health care workers at all levels.
Encourage local, regional, national, and transnational research on kidney disease to further understand preventive and treatment strategies
Educate the general public and people at risk of kidney disease within communicable and non-communicable disease education campaigns such as WKD, WDD, World AIDs Day, etc.
Support education of nephrology workforce to implement prevention and treatment strategies for all stages of CKD. ADVOCACY
Advocate research to better understand the burdens of acute and chronic kidney diseases
Advocate for universal health coverage to our governments for sustainable access to effective and affordable medications to treat risk factors for kidney disease and to delay kidney disease progression.
Promote collaborations between AFRAN and other national and international Kidney Societies and Foundations.
Encourage relationships between AFRAN and other organizations such as IDF, WHF, ISH, etc. thereby acknowledging the important interactions between kidney disease and other NCDs and communicable diseases.
Adopt and work within frameworks endorsed by the international organisations (like World Health Organization and the United Nations) such as the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda, Universal Health Coverage, etc.
Create an itinerant mission to interact with the health authorities of the interested countries to promote awareness of management of kidney diseases.

Collaboration With Other Committees

Education Committee:
Highlight courses on advocacy and policy making
Educate health workers to emphasize prevention and early detection, and integrated kidney care

Research Committee:
Promote research on kidney disease prevention and early detection in our population

Young Nephrologists Committee:
Advocate for the YNC committee in areas that will help advance their cause.

Registry:
Promote establishment of registries in member countries through advocacy

Media and ICT Committee:
Work with the committee to further advocacy and prevention programmes

Transplantation Committee/PD Committee/Haemodialysis Committee:
Advocate for the causes of this committee including encouraging integrated kidney care

AFRAN Congress Organizers
Advise and participate in designing and planning of AFRAN congresses

Membership

Comprise of a Chair and a co-Chair and at least 10 members from anglophone, francophone and lusophone countries.
Regular communication among members shall be by electronic social media platforms and emails
Members shall meet at every AFRAN Congress in-person or virtual