 St. Lucia on Thursday 11th March joined the Global Observance of World Kidney Day. The observance is a joint initiative of the International Society of Nephrology and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations. The day forms part of a global campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of kidneys to one's overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide. The theme for this year's observance is kidney health for everyone, everywhere, from prevention to detection and equitable access to care. Consultant's nephrologist Dr. Melclac says during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in newly diagnosed chronic kidney disease. We've been talking about kidney disease for quite a few years now, but I don't think the message has gotten through as much as we'd like. Yes, there has been some progress, but we're still seeing a lot of undiagnosed kidney disease walking around. So with patients coming into the respiratory hospital, and yes, COVID-19 can cause acute kidney injury, which is potentially reversible, and we have seen some of those cases. Some patients have required dialysis, but for the most part what we're seeing is patients who are coming in, they may or may not have COVID-19, but we are diagnosing chronic kidney disease and in many cases, late-stage kidney disease. Sanducia, we need to do better than that because as with so many other pathologies, with cancer, with heart disease, with diabetes, with hypertension, if caught early, we can do a lot more to effectively treat the disease. So with kidney disease, our aim is always to prevent progression. So if we catch kidney disease in its early stages, we can prevent progression and prevent the need for dialysis. Dr. Clark noted that St. Lucia has been in negotiations with various entities to assist with kidney transplantations, but talks were placed on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She indicated, however, that there has been an increase in health facilities capacity to offer dialysis on island. This in turn has caused a significant improvement in the waiting list. With dialysis, we've had increased capacity. So at the Owen King EU unit, we have an extra chair and also we have an extra shift which allowed us to dialyze approximately 30 more patients. So that went somewhere in reducing our waiting list. St. Jude Hospital, they also received three more machines, so we're able to transfer some of our patients and they will allow, I think, to the nine more patients as well. So at all the hospitals, we now have dialysis capacity in the ICU, which significantly takes off the strain on the units for chronic patients when they're in hospital patients who require dialysis. There's also a new private unit and there is a lot of government support at both of the private units, so quite a few more of our patients who require dialysis are being dialyzed. Dr. Clark urged the inclusion to take the necessary measures to ensure the preservation of their health and well-being.