The Challenge of Providing Renal Replacement Therapy in Developing Countries: The Latin American Perspective

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• 作者：Gregorio T. Obrador ; MD ; MPH¹ ; ^{gobrador@up.edu.mx" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author} ; Ximena Rubilar ; RN ; MSc¹ ; ² ; Evandro Agazzi ; PhD³ ; Janette Estefan ; MD⁴
• 关键词：Renal replacement therapy (RRT) ; end-stage renal disease (ESRD) ; chronic kidney disease ; developing countries ; Latin America ; health disparities ; health care expenditures ; medical ethics ; challenges
• 刊名：American Journal of Kidney Diseases
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：March 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：67
• 期：3
• 页码：499-506
• 全文大小：338 K

文摘

The costs of health care place developing countries under enormous economic pressure. Latin America is a region characterized by wide ethnic and per capita gross domestic product variations among different countries. Chronic kidney failure prevalence and incidence, as well as provision of renal replacement therapy (RRT), have increased in all Latin American countries over the last 20 years. From an ethical point of view, life-sustaining therapies such as RRT should be available to all patients with chronic kidney disease who might benefit. However, even among Latin American countries with similar per capita incomes and health care expenditures, only some have been able to achieve universal access to RRT. This indicates that it is not just a problem of wealth or distribution of scarce health care resources, but one of social justice. Strategies to increase the availability of RRT and renal palliative-supportive care, as well as implementation of interventions to prevent chronic kidney disease development and progression, are needed in Latin America and other developing countries.