Speech by the Director of the HIF, MSc Maja Parnardzhieva Zmejkova, on the occasion of the event marking World Kidney Day

Dear media representatives, dear academicians, dear professors, doctors, insured persons and dear patients, I would like to thank you for your invitation to be part of the event marking World Kidney Day for 2014. At the same time, I welcome the initiative to raise public awareness of chronic kidney disease in the process of ageing of the entire population. It is a great honour to be present here, where, once again, all aspects of nephrological diseases, dialysis treatment will be considered, and the importance of kidney transplantation as the best therapeutic method will again be highlighted as the focus. More than 500 million people worldwide are currently affected by kidney disease, which would mean that approximately every tenth adult on earth has some kidney disease. Around 1,5 million people live with the help of an artificial replacement for kidney function, and worldwide the average waiting time for a kidney transplant is around seven years.