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National Kidney Foundation

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Not to be confused with American Kidney Fund, National Kidney Foundation Singapore, or National Kidney Registry.
National Kidney Foundation
AbbreviationNKF
Legal status501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
HeadquartersNew York, NY, U.S.
Kevin Longino [1]
Anthony Tuggle[2]
President
Paul Palevsky, MD[3]
Website
http://www.kidney.org

The National Kidney Foundation, Inc. (NKF) is a major voluntary health organization in the United States, headquartered at 30 East 33rd Street, New York, New York, 10016, with over 30 local offices across the country. Its mission is to prevent kidney and urinary tract diseases, improve the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases, and increase the availability of all organs for transplantation. The National Kidney Foundation is the largest, most comprehensive, and longstanding, patient-centric organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease in the U.S. Fueled by passion and urgency, NKF is a lifeline for all people affected by kidney disease. As pioneers of scientific research and innovation, NKF focuses on the whole patient through the lens of kidney health. NKF has been in business since 1950.

The NKF Board of Directors consists of nephrologists, other kidney health care team members, civic leaders with diverse business expertise and people affected by kidney disease.

The National Kidney Foundation is a top-rated charity by the Better Business Bureau, Charity Navigator, and Charity Watch. It publishes it annual report in October of each year on its website at https://www.kidney.org/about/ar.

NKF is a patient advocacy organization, a society of kidney health professionals, and supports research and education in the field of nephrology. It advocates for public policy to support kidney health and patients with kidney disease. NKF worked directly on July 10, 2019, a presidential Executive Order to launch Advancing American Kidney Health to improve kidney health in the nation. In December of 2020, NKF saw one of it's 40-year initiatives come to fruition with the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act became law. It covers the expensive drugs costs for transplant patients on Medicare for the life of the transplant rather than the old 36-month limit.

Activities

The organization's activities focus on six pillars of activity: awareness, education, advocacy, research, programs, and innovation with the goal to increase awareness, and facilitate prevention and treatment. Initiatives include THE BIG ASK: THE BIG GIVE, Transplants for All, NKF Patient Network, NKF Spring Clinical Meetings, patient services, free-to-the-public kidney health screenings, supporting research and investigators, and public and professional education.

Awareness

The National Kidney Foundation participates each year in National Kidney Month in March and World Kidney Day to draw attention to the staggering statistics of kidney disease. NKF works to raise awareness that 33% of adults in the U.S. are at risk for kidney disease, but most of them don’t know it. And having kidney disease also puts you at an increased risk of developing life-threatening complications from COVID-19. The National Kidney Foundation offers a simple quiz at MinuteForYourKidneys.org to let you know if you are at risk.

Further, NKF puts in all its communications these facts: In the United States, 37 million adults are estimated to have kidney disease, also called chronic kidney disease (CKD), and approximately 90 percent don’t know they have it.  1 in 3 adults in the U.S. is at risk for kidney disease.  Risk factors for kidney disease include: diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and family history. People who are Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian American, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander are at increased risk for developing the disease. Black or African American people are almost 4 times more likely than Whites to have kidney failure. Hispanic or Latino people are 1.3 times more likely than non-Hispanics or Latinos to have kidney failure.

NKF builds followings on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin. It reaches millions of people every year through traditional media posts and has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.

Education

The National Kidney Foundation publishes a number of scientific journals including the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease and the Journal of Renal Nutrition. The NKF also publishes the Kidney Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative KDOQI, a comprehensive set of clinical practice guidelines.

The NKF has been a vocal advocate for increasing some forms of kidney transplantation, though it opposes organ donations wherein donors are compensated for their donation.[4] Some have accused it of trying to stifle public discussion on this subject.[5]

The National Kidney Foundation annually conducts the Spring Clinical Meetings as its premier educational conference.[6] It has over 20 years of experience providing continuing education to the kidney healthcare community. The Spring Clinical Meetings have educated over 55,000 professionals, delivered over 2,500 interactive sessions, and offered over 3,200 hours of continuing education credits.

Programs

On World Kidney Day, the foundation sponsors KEEP Healthy screenings around the United States.[7][8] NKF holds hundreds of kidney-health screenings throughout the year to identify individuals who are at risk for chronic kidney disease.[9]

History

The Early Years

On November 15, 1950, Ada DeBold, and her husband Harry, called the first meeting of the Committee for Nephrosis Research in a desperate attempt to save their child. Several months earlier, the couple's infant son was stricken with nephrosis, a little-known condition that had no real treatment. DeBold was determined to take positive action as she confronted the challenge of parenting a child with an incurable disease and due to her fortitude, the National Nephrosis Foundation (NNF) was born. The NNF was the inaugural lay group that ultimately became the National Kidney Foundation in 1964.

The DeBolds' son died at age four while nephrosis was still a death sentence but his mother's efforts to connect patients and doctors paid off just a few years later when a treatment was discovered that has since saved the lives of thousands.

Throughout the 1950s, the Foundation's main focus was supporting kidney patients and their families. Ada DeBold continued her crusade to help those with all types of kidney disease by raising funds for research and patient services.

The organization sought to raise awareness about the dangers of kidney disease by developing and distributing information to the public. At the same time, a paper entitled "How to Form a Chapter" was distributed to interested individuals and groups around the country. The first major national fund raising campaign took place in 1956 and was a complete success, raising $400,000. The Foundation was quickly gaining national recognition as an important national health agency.

A New Focus

Everything changed in 1960 with a groundbreaking medical advance. The invention of the Teflon shunt made repeated access to a patient's blood possible. Kidney failure could then be treated with dialysis. Transplantation of kidneys from sibling donors was also proving to be very successful. Kidney failure was no longer considered a fatal illness, but a chronic disease—and helping patients with kidney failure through education, research and advocacy became the primary mission of the Foundation. The first NKF research fellowships were awarded in 1968.

The Foundation grew in scope and became a vocal advocate for federal support of wide-ranging kidney disease programs. In the 1960s NKF was instrumental in securing the first federal funds ever earmarked for kidney programs—specifically $6.4 million for a variety of initiatives to help kidney patients get the care they needed. The money was used to establish training centers for the education of doctors and nurses in the treatment of patients with kidney failure; for professional and public education, including screening programs; research into the cause and nature of kidney diseases; and the development of more effective dialysis equipment.

That primary focus on service for dialysis and transplant patients lasted for more than 20 years. It included a milestone achievement in 1972-- the passage of legislation that provided federal government financing for nearly all Americans with kidney failure. This law established an End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) benefit within Medicare, the federal program that covers medical care for the elderly and disabled. It was, and continues to be, the only categorical coverage for any disease in the United States. This federal program marked the beginning of an ongoing government relations component to the Foundation's service and research mission.

Program Development Begins

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a stronger emphasis on encouraging organ donation and raising public awareness became important roles played by the organization. NKF developed a large library of published material for a wide variety of audiences, and positioned itself as the source for information and support on numerous issues related to kidney disease, especially dialysis and transplantation, for both patients and professionals. The American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD) was launched by NKF in 1981 and has become the go-to resource for cutting-edge clinical science, together with NKF's three other peer-reviewed publications.

The Foundation's ability to develop and disseminate major programs and to influence government policy continued. NKF was a leader in crafting and passing the National Transplant Act in 1984 which prohibited the sale of organs. Around this time, the Foundation began teaming up with corporate partners to obtain the funding needed to develop education programs that continue to improve the lives and health of kidney patients and their families.

Clinical Guidelines and Life Saving Tools

The NKF was responsible for developing the first broadly accepted clinical practice guidelines in nephrology, which eventually became known as KDOQI—Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative. The first guidelines were published in 1997, and today there are 12 guidelines, which are setting the standards for treatment of all aspects of kidney disease and have made a major difference in the quality of care for kidney patients worldwide. The 2002 Chronic Kidney Disease clinical practice guideline established the landmark "Five Stages of Kidney Disease," highlighting for the first time the opportunity for slowing the disease and preventing complications through early detection. This effort is changing the way kidney disease is identified and treated, providing millions of patients with the opportunity to stay healthy longer.

One of NKF's great achievements was the development of the largest and most effective early detection program for kidney disease ever launched in the United States. First tested in 1997, the Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP) was designed to find kidney disease at the earliest stage possible. More than 250,000 participants were screened since the program's inception and tens of thousands of people at risk have learned to protect their kidneys through healthy lifestyle as a result.

Global Impact

NKF's interest in promoting guideline development and implementation led to the establishment of "Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes" or KDIGO. In 2003, with the blessing of prominent nephrologists from around the world, NKF helped create an organization to bring the global kidney community together with the goal of developing a common set of core practice guidelines that could be implemented worldwide. Managed by NKF, KDIGO published its first guideline, covering Hepatitis C in Chronic Kidney Disease in Kidney International. KDIGO has since published seven more guidelines. One of NKF's most valuable assets is the "Kidney Learning System," or KLS, established in 2003 as the core of NKF's education programming. All of the Foundation's patient and professional tools and learning opportunities are developed through KLS, which maintains an extensive and ever-growing library of resources available in multiple formats. KLS's activities are helping NKF further public awareness about risk factors and the Five Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease, and supporting healthcare professionals.

In addition to developing resources, NKF has become a medical education provider of the highest quality. The Foundation offers both in person and online Continuing Education Units (CEU) and Continuing Medical Education Credits (CME) to health care professionals, having received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (AACME) and American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

Expanding Efforts

In its ongoing efforts to strengthen and unify the voices of the more than 37 million Americans with chronic kidney disease, the NKF offers a robust patient advocacy program. This program is educating, empowering and encouraging effective advocates on key health issues. NKF patient advocates learn to effectively communicate their personal stories to legislators and to participate in activities related to public policy initiatives that affect their lives-funding for treatment, research and education. NKF advocates establish and maintain contact with Members of Congress and state and local officials through phone calls, letters, and personal visits. To expand this effort, NKF launched the Take Action Network in 2007, an e-advocacy system that allows people to immediately email their representatives in Congress when urgent legislative and policy issues arise. Tens of thousands of messages have been directly delivered to Congress through this network.

Fundraising

The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance Charity Seal provides the giving public with an easily recognizable symbol which certifies that the National Kidney Foundation meets the comprehensive standards of America's most experienced charity evaluator.

NKF subscribes to the HONcode principles of the Health on the Net Foundation.

To raise funds for its programs, the National Kidney Foundation organizes a national car-donation program called Kidney Cars,[10] run via Insurance Auto Auctions and their One Car One Difference auto donation program, Kidney Walks in major US cities, and the NKF Golf Classic which culminates in a tournament at Pebble Beach.[11][12] Danny Mason, late golf coach at Texas Tech University in Lubbock and a transplant recipient, played in three tournaments.[13]

False Rumor

The National Kidney Foundation does not, nor have they ever, had a program that provides access to dialysis machines in exchange for pull tabs on beverage cans.[14] This rumor has existed since at least the 1970s; NKF notes that 80 percent of the cost of dialysis in the United States is usually covered by Medicare.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.kidney.org/about/board
  2. ^ https://www.kidney.org/about/board/board-member-anthony-tuggle
  3. ^ https://www.kidney.org/about/board/board-member-paul-palevsky
  4. ^ "Position Statements". The National Kidney Foundation. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  5. ^ Postrel, Virginia (June 2, 2006). "The National Kidney Foundation vs. Open Debate and Increasing Kidney Donations". Retrieved 2006-06-03.
  6. ^ Spring Clinical Meetings
  7. ^ KEEP Healthy
  8. ^ "Dear Abby". 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  9. ^ "KEEP Health Care". 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
  10. ^ Kidney Cars
  11. ^ "Kidney Walks". Archived from the original on 2017-10-02. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  12. ^ NKF Golf Classic
  13. ^ "The Vehicle Donation Processing Center Proudly Announces its 800,000th Car Donation". IAAI. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  14. ^ Mikkelson, Barbara (24 March 2012). "Keeping Tabs". Snopes. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  15. ^ "NKF Dispels Pull Tabs for Dialysis Time Rumor". National Kidney Foundation. 1 June 1998. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
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