Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) Senior Manager Ms. Eri Yoshimura participated as a speaker and panelist at the Patient Consensus Summit for Chronic and Rare Kidney Diseases (organized by CompCure) held in Brussels, Belgium, on January 26 and 27, 2025.

She presented Japan’s chronic kidney disease measures that developed against the backdrop of a robust UHC and diagnostic and intervention system in Japan and the future of these measures. Japan is one of the few countries promoting measures against renal diseases. This includes screening through a health checkup system for all generations from infants to the elderly, diagnosis, and intervention through the development of a local healthcare delivery system including collaboration between primary care physicians, nephrologists and various healthcare professionals. The attendees showed a keen interest in measures implemented in Japan, led by central and local government, and perceived Japan as a leader in kidney disease control. The participants discussed the three perspectives of screening, diagnosis, and policy promotion in kidney disease control with medical experts, patient groups, private companies, and media experts from several European countries, the U.S., and China over the course of two days. Following the summit, we presented their recommendations to the European Parliament (at the European Kidney Forum 2025).

Consensus on four asks on how to improve kidney health in Europe and all over the world, and one action to implement in our community (Overview)

1. Early detection of common and rare kidney diseases through broader screening programs.
2. Broader access to care through access to experts, access to medication, and access to trials.
3. Support people in dialysis to get transplants through prevention of progression to ESRD (End-Stage Renal Disease) and strengthened donation programs.*
4. Prioritize kidney health in healthcare strategies and plans, to the benefits of patients, their families and society.
5. Awareness about kidney diseases, the burden of disease, the financial- and the environmental impact.

*HGPI has never had a discussion on kidney transplantation in Japan before, and we believe that further multi-stakeholder discussions on kidney transplantation are needed in the future.