ACADI report reveals true impact of kidney disease

Diabetes Australia recently launched a report written by researchers from the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) on the impact of diabetes-related kidney disease within the Australian context.

Change the future: Saving lives by better detecting diabetes-related kidney disease.

The report by Professors Elif Ekinci, Richard MacIsaac and PhD student Rodney Kwok reveals the substantial and escalating impact of the disease. Currently, one in every 20 hospitalisations involves a person living with diabetes undergoing dialysis, which is anticipated to grow to one in ten by 2045. With around 330,000 Australians with diabetes-related kidney disease, the annual cost of the disease to the healthcare sector is $2.68 billion.

In response to these findings, the report authors recommended the establishment of a diabetes-related kidney disease screening program. Early detection of kidney disease is when treatment interventions are most effective and could save the Australian economy $500 million every year.

Diabetes Australia commissioned the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations led by Professor Elif Ekinci, Sir Edward Weary Dunlop Principal Research Fellow in Metabolic Medicine, and Dame Kate Campbell Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Professor Ekinci is the lead author of the report.