AKF’s Michael Spigler on Kidney Action Week

The American Kidney Fund (AKF) will present its fifth annual Kidney Action Week March 18-22, 2024. This all-virtual event will include a variety of kidney health education sessions for both patients and health care providers.

Michael Spigler, vice president of patient services and education at the AKF, shared some of the highlights for providers, including “Navigating IgAN: Patient and Professional Perspectives” and “APOL1-Mediated Kidney Disease Spotlight.” Those two sessions, and all others taking place on Thursday, March 21, are specifically aimed at health care professionals. The final day of the event (Friday, March 22) will focus on innovations in kidney care.

Several sessions will discuss legislation and policy matters, including the proposed New Era of Preventing End-Stage Kidney Disease Act (HR 6790), which aims to improve the understanding and timely and accurate diagnosis of rare kidney diseases. “This is something to get excited about because it’s going to give you more tools in the toolbox to help patients so that you’re seeing more benefit,” Mr. Spigler said. “Hopefully, we’re getting people diagnosed earlier, and then there’s treatments that can keep them where they are in the [chronic kidney disease] process.”

Other sessions will cover racial inequity in kidney care. These sessions, too, could benefit providers. “We always have to make sure that we’re highlighting those disparities and the level to which they exist, because if we can’t get people to believe that there is a problem, they will not take any steps to affect the problem,” Mr. Spigler said.

Program registration and the full agenda are available on the event’s website.