This year, I was again privileged to be invited to attend the CDC CKD Surveillance System Mini-Summit (as a representative of the AHA Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease Leadership Committee) during ASN Kidney Week. This Steering Committee is Co-Chaired by Drs. Rajiv Saran (University of Michigan, Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center) and Neil Powe (University of California San Francisco). The objective of this collaborative group is to develop a national CKD surveillance system the purpose of which, is to establish the distribution of CKD and its risk factors in the US population and subpopulations, and also to track the progress of efforts to prevent and manage CKD and its complications.

This year, the Chairs discussed the CKD objectives of the Healthy People 2020 initiative.

“Are You Aware?” is another endeavor with the goal of spreading awareness of the surveillance website as well as increasing website traffic.

• Monthly emails with themes tied to relevant national health observances, eg, November is National Diabetes Month.

Credit: CDC website

• Highlight topic-related CKD indicators from the website and recent research

• Multiple opportunities to click through to the website and to share information

Post by Dr. Edgar Lerma, AJKD Blog Advisory Board member.

Check out all of AJKD Blog’s coverage of Kidney Week 2015!