MANILA, Philippines, Nov. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Baxter Asia Pacific (Baxter), a global leader in dialysis care, announced today the launch of My Kidney Journey, a comprehensive online portal to support patients living with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in the Philippines.
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is on the rise in APAC and continues to be a major public health problem. It is often referred to as a 'silent killer' as patients present no symptoms until they reach an advanced stage of the disease, and is becoming more prevalent in countries across Asia. In the Philippines, for example, the Department of Health (DOH) identified renal or kidney diseases as one of the top ten causes of mortality in the country. The burden of kidney diseases has, in fact, taken a toll on millions of Filipinos over the years. According to DOH, one Filipino dies every hour from kidney failure.
My Kidney Journey has been developed to provide additional information on CKD such as the symptoms, causes and stages, as well as balanced and up-to-date information on multiple treatment options to manage CKD such as Home Haemodialysis (Home HD), Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) at home, in-centre dialysis care and kidney transplant. It also offers support to patients, families and caregivers by providing insights on ways to live well on dialysis, including coping with the emotional difficulties of a diagnosis and demands of treatment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted people with chronic illnesses. Those with pre-existing conditions, including CKD, are at greater risk of more serious illness with COVID-19 because of their immunocompromised status. Home dialysis offers an opportunity for CKD patients to manage their condition from the comfort of their homes, while reducing direct human interactions from hospital visits, as well as the likelihood of infection. New data from Baxter highlights that remote patient management digital health supports HCPs to improve clinical outcomes, including monitoring their patients' home dialysis treatments, and remotely adjusting therapy without the need for patients to make visits to the clinic or hospital.
National Kidney and Transplant Institute's PD Unit Head Dr. Donnah De Leon said: "COVID-19 pandemic posed a huge disruption in our day-to-day clinical operation, but this triggered a timely innovation for NKTI in improving and sustaining the quality of care for our dialysis patients. Keeping the communication lines open with our dialysis patients became a challenge during the pandemic lockdowns but closing this gap with the use of technology allowed immediate action taken while preventing patients to visit the hospital. Our new and existing dialysis patients, including our carers, require utmost attention, training and all the necessary information needed in managing Chronic Kidney disease. Bringing the therapy closer to our patients- which includes access to relevant information, providing procedural guidance and remote monitoring through e-home visit- will help in providing improved and better quality of care to our patients."
"Baxter is committed to improving the care and quality of life for patients with CKD through our continued innovation in modern PD (Peritoneal Dialysis), In-Centre HD (Haemodialysis), along with Home HD (Home Haemodialysis) and other home-base renal replacement therapies and services, which have proven to be advantageous especially during the pandemic," said Andrew Frye, President of Baxter Asia Pacific.
"There is no one-size fits all model for managing Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). However, we hope that My Kidney Journey will provide patients with the knowledge and resources they need to plan for a healthy and full life while on dialysis or other CKD treatments. Aside from patients, we hope that this new online portal can be a platform that offers support to caregivers who are supporting their loved ones to adjust to life with CKD and their own personal journey," Frye added.
My Kidney Journey APAC is now available to patients and the general public in 10 countries and 9 different languages, including Filipino. For more, visit https://apac.mykidneyjourney.com/fil.
About Baxter
Every day, millions of patients and caregivers rely on Baxter's leading portfolio of critical care, nutrition, renal, hospital and surgical products. For more than 85 years, we've been operating at the critical intersection where innovations that save and sustain lives meet the healthcare providers that make it happen. With products, technologies and therapies available in more than 100 countries, Baxter's employees worldwide are now building upon the company's rich heritage of medical breakthroughs to advance the next generation of transformative healthcare innovations.
