World Kidney Day 2024

The theme for the 2024 World Kidney Day on March 14 is “Advancing equitable access to care and the best medications ”.

Renal services nationally are transforming the lives of patients with Chronic Kidney Disease, improving quality of life through effective care and treatment that fits around people’s lives.

In 2023 more than 440,000 dialysis treatments took place, with the majority of patients having to travel three times per week to one of 24 dialysis centres across the country for treatment.

Key figures for renal services for 2023 include:

• The HSE provided over 440,000 dialysis treatments, of which 100,000 were home dialysis treatments.
• The number of patients requiring treatment by dialysis or kidney transplantation in Ireland increased to 5,190 adults and 67 children – an increase of 109 from the previous year.
• The number of patients in Ireland with the functioning kidney transplant is 2,755.
• The number of patients treated by dialysis now stands at 2,502 (1,461 receive haemodialysis treatment in a HSE hospital based dialysis units, and 736 in HSE contracted dialysis units. 305 patients carry out dialysis in their own home).

There were also 191 kidney transplants in 2023, transforming the lives of recipients by improving their health and quality of life, supporting them to return to normal activities.

The introduction of the recent Human Tissue Act should contribute to additional transplants through the introduction of a soft opt-out donation system as well as facilitating living donation.

The HSE’s National Renal Office has produced Medication Sick Day Guidance to support renal patients when they are unwell. Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease are more susceptible to the effects of dehydration, with increased risk of developing acute kidney injury or damage. Specific medicines can impact this further and patients are often advised to stop certain medicines.

The sick day guidance was developed to help renal patients recognise the signs of dehydration and to explain which medicines need to be stopped, and when to restart them and should be utilised in conjunction with information provided by Healthcare professionals.

The National Renal Office tracks End-Stage Kidney Disease prevalence by location and the mode of treatment for patients receiving renal replacement therapy in Ireland.

For further information including end of year statistics, please visit our Programme Documents and Resources page.