A global analysis in the Lancet estimated that chronic kidney disease (CKD) caused 1.48 million deaths in 2023, making it the world’s ninth leading cause of mortality. Researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and the University of Glasgow examined records on adults aged 20 and older from 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2023. They concluded that 788 million adults lived with CKD last year—double the number in 1990—and that more than 14 percent of the global population was affected, most in early stages.
The team linked the rise to an aging population and to risk factors that included diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure, as well as high fasting plasma glucose, elevated systolic pressure, high body-mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake and excessive sodium consumption. CKD also fueled heart disease, accounting for nearly 12 percent of cardiovascular deaths in 2023, and it ranked seventh among cardiovascular risk factors. The American Heart Association introduced the term “cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome” in 2023 to capture this overlap.
Prevalence reached 18 percent in North Africa and the Middle East, 15.8 percent in South Asia and 15.6 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa. Latin America and the Caribbean stood at 15.4 percent, with Haiti, Panama, Mexico and Costa Rica above 19 percent. Nicaragua recorded 107.3 CKD deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. In absolute numbers, China logged 152 million cases and India 138 million; the United States, Indonesia, Japan, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Nigeria and Iran each reported more than 10 million.
Routine urine and blood tests could spot early disease, yet only 35 percent of people with diabetes and 4 percent with hypertension underwent the recommended screening. “Chronic kidney disease is a growing global health crisis, but much of its impact is preventable. Reducing deaths is essential to achieve WHO’s goal of cutting premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by one third by 2030,” said Lauryn Stafford, an IHME researcher, according to Infobae.
Professor Morgan Grams told the Sun that CKD remained underdiagnosed and urged wider urine testing and affordable therapy. The World Health Organization has now added CKD to its list of priority conditions for 2030. “We have incredible tools now to slow down the progression,” said Dr. Susan Quaggin, former president of the American Society of Nephrology, according to the New York Times, who added that early detection is crucial.
CKD already caused more deaths than tuberculosis or bowel cancer and slightly more than liver disease. “Common, deadly, and getting worse,” said Professor Josef Coresh, a co-senior author, noting that kidney damage often leads to cardiovascular death, the New York Times reported. IHME senior author Professor Emeritus Theo Vos warned that the burden rose fastest in regions with wide health inequities.
Many parts of Latin America and the Caribbean still lacked broad access to dialysis or transplantation. Health experts advised regular exercise, weight control, blood pressure and glucose management and reduced sodium intake to delay dialysis or transplantation. “Addressing climate change can also help mitigate the burden of the disease by reducing the frequency of adverse weather phenomena and global temperatures, which have been linked to accelerated decline in kidney function,” said Stafford, according to Infobae.
Researchers argued that broader screening, better treatment access and stronger prevention policies were needed to alter CKD’s trajectory before the decade ends.
The preparation of this article relied on a news-analysis system.