Report on Rotary meeting 13 April
A bigger than usual audience of Rotarians, partners and guests were given a comprehensive view of the work of the Kidney Society by Joanne Hand at this week’s meeting.
The Society is an independent organisation, set up in 1978, dedicated to life-long support of people with kidney disease and currently has 56 patients using their dialysis services in the area north of Taupo. Their services are free of charge and meet a demand unable to be accommodated by the public health system.
CKD or chronic kidney disease affects about 5000 New Zealanders and with ageing this number is likely to increase. Healthy living including being wary of some pain medications can stave off kidney problems but symptoms are often ‘silent’ not revealing themselves until 90% of the damage has occurred. Offering the services of social workers educators and peer connections, the Society provides wrap-around support which is world-leading, catering for individual needs where and when it is most needed. For every 14 people using dialysis through the Society, the taxpayer is saved a million dollars – a huge contribution in the current situation.
David Wardell prefaced Joanne’s talk with an account of his brush with severe kidney problems last year, showing just how quickly our two precious organs can misbehave and create life-threatening conditions.
The number of questions after the address was a good indication of the relevance of this topic to the audience. Thank-you Joanne for your revelations and advice.