Opportunities for a chronic disease outreach program in China

Abstract

The comparison of the prevalence of patients on regular dialysis treatment (RDT) in the 3 areas of Greater China (Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland) with that of the United States and Japan shows that, unlike Taiwan, in which RDT has a higher prevalence than in the United States and Japan, in Mainland China such prevalence is enormously lower. To make the situation more in line with that of Taiwan, around 2 million patients would need to be treated in Mainland China, which would be a tremendous financial burden. Prevention is the only way to improve the situation. Preliminary information regarding an epidemiologic study on the population of Zhuhai, a town in Southeast China, planned in collaboration with the Commission for the Global Advancement of Nephrology of the International Society of Nephrology and the 5th Affiliated Hospital of the Sun-Yat-Sen University in Zhuhai, is given here. © 2005 by the International Society of Nephrology.