Basel, Switzerland (ots/PRNewswire) - The life-sustainingactivities of our kidneys tend to go unnoticed, until they falter orfail. World Kidney Day (http://www.worldkidneyday.org) on March 13thseeks to address this knowledge gap and to boost public awareness ofhow vital kidney health is to the well-being of the body. As asponsor of World Kidney Day, Roche has created two interactiveweb-based tools on the campaign website to help spread this year'shealth message about the 'Amazing Kidneys'. A cartoon animation "TheAmazing Kidnerellis!" and an e-greetings card are designed to beinformative and fun.

"We know that people are more receptive to health informationwhen they hear it from family and friends, so we are very pleasedthat Roche has created the e-greeting card to be able to reach thecommunity with a public health message that may prompt people tocheck their risk factors for chronic kidney disease," said PhilipSpringuel, Project Director of World Kidney Day.

World Kidney Day (WKD) is a joint initiative of the InternationalSociety of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation ofKidney Foundations (IFKF). It is a worldwide effort to make morepeople aware of chronic kidney disease (CKD) which, if detectedearly, can be treated so reducing other potentially life threateninghealth complications. Roche is a founding sponsor of WKD. The WorldKidney Day message is simple "kidney disease is common, harmful andtreatable". Early detection and prevention means that kidney diseasecan be better managed and even curtailed.

The animation, set in a circus big top, introduces 'Luigi &Rocco' - "The Amazing Kidnerellis!" These characters perform circusstyle acts which help illustrate the important and amazing functionsof the kidneys. Descriptive text accompanying their activities willbe available in English, Italian, German, Spanish and French.Visitors to the site can also send a personalised 'Amazing Kidneys!'e-greeting card to family, friends and colleagues(http://www.worldkidneyday.org/eCard/eCard.php) to spread the WorldKidney Day message globally.

"Roche hopes its ongoing support of World Kidney Day will raiseawareness of CKD as a global health issue," said Luke Miels,Strategic Marketing Head, Metabolism & Anaemia at Roche. "Theresources we created are intended to help accomplish this goal."

Many people do not know, for example that one of the amazing actsour two fist-sized kidneys perform everyday is to remove waste andbalance the fluids and minerals in the body. The kidneys do this byfiltering a massive 200 litres of blood (more than 1,000 cups of teaor coffee) and extracting two litres of waste and excess water perday. In addition, the kidneys produce essential hormones which drivekey functions such as control of blood pressure and the production ofred blood cells. The body needs red blood cells to deliver oxygen totissues and organs so that they can work properly.

When kidney function declines chronic kidney disease (CKD)develops and the kidneys can no longer perform their amazing acts.CKD almost always leads to complications such as cardiovasculardisease and anaemia. The prevalence of CKD is increasing; a recentstudy showed that the rate has jumped from one in every 10 adults toabout one in every 7 to 8(1). Experts believe that this figure islikely to rise even more due to high obesity rates since obesity,diabetes and high blood pressure are all risk factors for CKD(2).

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world'sleading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields ofpharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world's biggest biotechcompany and an innovator of products and services for the earlydetection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Groupcontributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's healthand quality of life. Additional information about the Roche Group isavailable on the Internet at http://www.roche.com.

About WKD organisers

The partnership between the International Society of Nephrology(http://www.isn-online.org) (ISN) and the International Federation ofKidney Foundations (http://www.ifkf.net) (IFKF) - the co-organizersof World Kidney Day - represents a strong alliance between kidneyhealth professionals and patient groups to bring global attention tothe prevention and treatment of kidney disease. The ISN is anot-for-profit society whose mission is the global advancement ofnephrology. The IFKF, a not-for-profit Federation advocates worldwideto improve the health, well-being and quality of life of individualswith kidney disease; disseminates standards of best practice oftreatment and care; assists with the establishment of kidneyfoundations in countries where they do not yet exist; facilitateseducational programs for its members; and promotes kidney diseaseresearch.

References

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(1) http://www.kidney.org/news/newsroom/newsitem.cfm?id=415(accessed 11.24am GMT 28/01/08)

(2)Agnani S., Vachharajani V. T., Gupta R., Atray N.K. andVachharajani. T.J. Does treating obesity stabilize chronic kidneydisease? 2005. BMC Nephrology 6:7doi:10.1186/1471-2369-6-7

ots Originaltext: Roche PharmaceuticalsIm Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:Sheila Kolesaire at Roche, Tel:+973-235-4347, Mobile:+973-687-0188; Diane Lorton at Galliard, Tel: +44(0)207-663-2265, Mobile:+44(0)7717-531-823; Angela Guillemet for WKD, Mobile: +353-863-11-40-67