Dhaka: The World Kidney Day (WKD) is being observed across the globe on Thursday with a special focus on raising awareness about early and comprehensive screening for kidney disease.

The theme of the day this year is ‘Kidney disease and children: Act early to prevent it’.

The day is being jointly observed by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF), said a release on WKD website.

According to the release, with 10 per cent of the worldwide population having some form of kidney damage, there is a long road ahead to raise awareness about the dangers of kidney disease, reports UNB.

The latest numbers show that Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is predicted to increase by 17% over the next decade and is now recognized by WHO and other organisations as a global public health issue.

Kidney diseases affect millions of people worldwide, including many children.

Some children are born with kidney disease and others develop it when still very young.

The symptoms of kidney disease in children are often nonspecific, which means that there is a risk that kidney problems may be missed in children.

In childhood, the leading causes of kidney failure in children are hereditary conditions, often lacking obvious indicators such as hematuria (red blood cells in the urine), hypertension (high blood pressure) or edema (swelling).

Additionally, kidney disease that becomes evident in adulthood may occur more often in persons with risk factors that can be detected in childhood.

African, American Indian, Hispanic, Asian or Aboriginal populations are known to suffer from higher rates of diabetes and high blood pressure which are both leading causes for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).

These populations are therefore at higher risk of developing severe renal disease and ultimately kidney failure. As an example, in the US, African Americans are 3 times more likely to experience kidney failure. Compared with Caucasians, African Americans have a much higher average blood pressure, develop hypertension earlier in life and have greater risks of complications such as CKD, stroke and heart disease.

World Kidney Day is observed annually on the 2nd Thursday of March.

At the start, 66 countries observed the day in 2006.

Within two years, the number rose to 88.