The Institute of Child Health (ICH), Kolkata, organized a panel discussion on Awareness and access for patients with rare kidney diseases.

It brought together nephrologists, geneticists, policymakers, patient advocates, fertility specialists, and industry partners.

Dr. Rajiv Sinha, Dr. Pratik Das, Dr. Kaushik Mondal, Dr. Rajeev Agarwal, director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, and others graced the panel discussion.

The panel discussion highlighted early diagnosis, multidisciplinary management, and lifelong access to patient care for living with rare kidney disorders for both kids and adults.

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury said, “Information, knowledge, and awareness are the best ways to tackle rare kidney diseases. Everything should be embedded in our lives from a very young age. Information and awareness must be there so that these diseases can be detected early, treatment can begin soon, and the lives of the patients get better”.

The panellists highlighted early recognition, genetic diagnosis, multidisciplinary management, long-term monitoring, fertility counseling, and sustained awareness.

Strengthening of CoE networks, NRDP implementation, and public-private partnerships to make genomic testing accessible to all people are some other steps that can help patients with such diseases.

ICH is committed to bridging pediatric and adult nephrology, and this panel discussion threw light on their great work.

Priyanka Dutta