On June 28, 2023, Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) (Secretariat: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Kiyoshi Kurokawa) and the Japan Kidney Association (Chairperson: Naoki Kashihara (Director and Specially-Appointed Professor, Kawasaki Gakuen Educational Foundation)) formed the “Comprehensive Agreement on Collaboration and Cooperation in Initiatives to Overcome Kidney Disease.”

HGPI and the Japan Kidney Association formed this agreement to contribute to better public health through mutual collaboration and cooperation in initiatives to overcome kidney disease.

In 2007, a committee called the Kidney Disease Control Review Meeting formulated a plan called “The Future of Measures for Kidney Disease Control.” That committee met once again in 2017 to look back on the previous decade and track progress and identify issues in this area. In addition to confirming that suitable progress had been made in terms of establishing a healthcare provision system and developing human resources, they also recognized that steps forward were being taken in the creation of a treatment environment, particularly through pharmaceutical development, to respond to chronic kidney disease (CKD), which had become a major disease for Japan.

CKD refers to all kidney diseases in which people experience a chronic and gradual decline in kidney function. Due to the fact that people do not experience subjective symptoms in the early stages of kidney disease, the kidneys are regarded as “silent” organs. Because there is no recovery once a person experiences a chronic decline in kidney function, early detection and treatment through regular health checkups are crucial for preventing the progression of CKD.

The importance of prevention and severity reduction for CKD has been mentioned in the Basic Policy for Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform since 2018. It is also mentioned in plans like the second term of Healthy Japan 21. However, the number of people receiving dialysis continues to increase unchecked (from both new patients and growing prevalence), and this trend is projected to continue as the population ages. Recognizing this trend, HGPI launched its Kidney Disease Control Promotion Project in FY2022. Together with an advisory board of domestic and international stakeholders in this field from industry, Government, academia, and civil society, we have been working to crystallize issues and share best practices for kidney disease control.

In 2023, HGPI will continue collaborating with the Japan Kidney Association and other stakeholders in various fields in our capacity as a neutral think tank to promote policies in the area of CKD and to encourage the introduction of better measures for kidney disease.

■ About the Japan Kidney Association
The Japan Kidney Association was established to collaborate with parties such as health professionals, citizens, related companies, and government agencies to overcome kidney disease. In addition to raising awareness for kidney disease, it builds collaborative treatment systems for kidney disease, operates the Kidney Disease Treatment Advisor System, and administers the Kidney Research Initiative-Japan (KRI-J), a collaborative platform involving academia, related companies, government agencies, and other organizations. Through the active pursuit of various initiatives for kidney disease, the Japan Kidney Association is committed to establishing an environment in which people throughout Japan can enjoy the benefits of high-quality healthcare for kidney disease. To learn more about the Japan Kidney Association, please visit their website at https://j-ka.or.jp/.

■ About Health and Global Policy Institute
Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) is a non-profit, independent, non-partisan health policy think tank established in 2004. In its capacity as a neutral think-tank, HGPI involves stakeholders from wide-ranging fields of expertise to provide policy options to the public to successfully create citizen-focused healthcare policies. Looking to the future, HGPI produces novel ideas and values from a standpoint that offers a wide perspective. It aims to realize a healthy and fair society while holding fast to its independence to avoid being bound to the specific interests of political parties and other organizations. HGPI intends for its policy options to be effective not only in Japan, but also in the wider world, and in this vein the institute will continue to be very active in creating policies for resolving global health challenges. HGPI’s activities have received global recognition. It was ranked second in the “Domestic Health Policy Think Tanks” category and third in the “Global Health Policy Think Tanks” category in the Global Go To Think Tank Index Report presented by the University of Pennsylvania (as of January 2021, the most recent report).