Dialysis care solutions developer Baxter Asia Pacific has rolled out an online resource portal to support patients living with chronic kidney disease in Indonesia.

The My Kidney Journey website hosts information on CKD, such as symptoms, causes, and stages, as well as the latest information on multiple treatment options to manage the disease, including Peritoneal Dialysis at home, in-centre dialysis care, and kidney transplant.

The portal also provides patients, families and caregivers insights on ways to live well on dialysis, such as coping with emotional difficulties of diagnosis and demands of treatment.

WHY IT MATTERS

The repository on CKD resources cannot come any sooner as cases of the disease is increasing within APAC, Baxter claims. Specifically in Indonesia, CKD afflicted over 185,000 patients in 2019 with about 69,000 new cases being recorded each year and rising, according to the Indonesia Renal Registry.

Dr Aida Lydia Sutranto, consultant nephrologist at Dr Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta, stressed that the lack of information "causes patients to be unprepared for kidney replacement therapy and confused in choosing the appropriate treatment modality". 

The website has been launched in 10 APAC countries and in nine different languages.

THE LARGER TREND

In July last year, pharmaceutical giant Otsuka introduced a similar platform called NephU which provides a host of online resources about nephrology conditions, including video, audio, webinars and podcasts. The site also connects clinicians with one another and with patients to enable collaboration and information sharing.

Meanwhile, another APAC-wide website was recently launched to provide learning resources on ​​osteoporosis. The Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis crafted a 17-module series called Health Care Professional Peer-to-Peer Educational Modules which features a massive educational slide deck comprising 231 slides. The organisation aims to equip osteoporosis professionals within the region with information, supporting data, topical literature summaries and best practice examples.

ON THE RECORD

"There is no one-size-fits-all model for managing 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," said Baxter Asia Pacific President Andrew Frye.