Today is World Kidney Day!

Yes, today! World Kidney Day! But what does that mean?

Image from here

World Kidney Day (WKD) exists to bring focus to an area of health that is often overlooked.

I have polycystic kidney disease, so, unsurprisingly, spreading the word about kidney health is important to me. But not as important as our kidneys are to us.

Our kidneys perform a vital role, as demonstrated in the WKD logo (bottom right of the image above). The three bright colour bars represent the blood (red), excess water (blue) and urine (yellow) that our kidneys filter, clean and eliminate.

Each year, WKD focuses on a different area. In 2012, it's all about kidney transplantation and the life-saving aspect of organ donation. The slogan? Donate - Kidneys for Life - Receive.

Coming hot on the heels of DonateLife Week, which we've just had here in Australia, I thought I'd flog the message one more time.

Please consider organ donation, and discuss your wishes (whether pro- or anti-donation) with your friends and family.


I support World Kidney Day. What International or World Day do you support?