Chronic kidney disease is on the rise: some 2,500 people in Malaga now need dialysis or a kidney transplant

The Spanish society of nephrology estimates that there are 270,000 people with the disease in the province, most of them undiagnosed

Iván Gelibter

Malaga

Monday, 24 March 2025, 22:16

Around 270,000 people in Malaga province suffer from chronic kidney disease, according to the Spanish society of nephrology (SEN). The figure encompasses all stages of the disease, including those who have not been diagnosed.

The SEN has warned of the "worrying evolution" of this ailment, which has become a "serious public health problem". It is estimated that 15% of the Spanish population suffers from chronic kidney disease. Moreover, the prevalence of renal replacement therapy (RRT), i.e. the number of people on dialysis or transplant, has increased by more than 30% in the last decade, bringing the total number of people on RRT to 67,000. Every year, an average of 7,000 people enter dialysis and transplant programmes, 25% of them due to diabetes.

Andalucía is at the national average in terms of the number of new cases, with 149 people per million. The Spanish average is 151. Of the nearly 12,000 people in Andalucía who require RRT to replace the function of their kidneys, some 2,500 are from Malaga province.

Symptoms

Despite its high incidence and the impact it has on the quality of a person's life, chronic kidney disease is not among the most widely known and recognised ailments in public debate. The rate of under-diagnosis surpasses 40%. One of the main reasons for this is that its symptoms are hardly recognisable in the early stages of the disease, which makes early diagnosis and treatment difficult.

For this reason, doctors stress the importance of implementing early detection programmes in the population at risk, in order to detect the disease before it reaches advanced stages. Nephrologists and patients are calling for more efforts in order for prevention and early diagnosis to progress, which will slow down the spread of this "silent epidemic".

The increase in chronic kidney disease in recent years is related to risk factors such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease (responsible for 40% of cases), obesity, high blood pressure and smoking. Most of the causes can be avoided or prevented. "We have to get people to worry about their renal function and the health of their kidneys, as CKD is very silent, and often appears in advanced stages, when RRT is practically necessary to replace renal function," said SEN president Dr Emilio Sánchez.

Delay dialysis

"Early detection and early treatment of kidney function deterioration can delay admission to dialysis or transplantation by up to 20 years. This can be achieved with simple blood and urine tests to measure plasma creatinine (and calculate glomerular filtration rate) and urine albumin," said Dr Sánchez.

If no progress is made, the statistics for the future are unfavourable: by 2040, a third of people over of the age of 65 in Spain will have the disease, which will become the fifth leading cause of death. The objective, therefore, is to avoid reaching a state of renal function deterioration that requires RRT. In turn, early actions for prevention and diagnosis will improve "the sustainability of the health system, as RRT consumes approximately 3% of the budget of the National Health System".

Kidney transplant

According to Sánchez, kidney transplant, especially those carried out via living donors, remains the "best solution". Malaga and the Hospital Regional are leaders in kidney transplants in Spain. This demonstrates the solidarity of residents and the professionalism of the medical teams that have made this milestone possible. According to official data from the regional health ministry, Malaga carried out 337 transplants in 2024 (almost one a day), which is 20% more than in 2023. Of these, 85 were liver, 10 pancreas and 242 kidney transplants.

A transplant requires a donor. The rate is measured as the number of donors per million people. In the absence of updated data, in Europe this rate is around 20 people per million, while in Spain it is just under 48. Andalucía and Malaga are, once again, leaders, with around 51 and 52, respectively.

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