The International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) and Tamilnad Kidney Research Foundation (TANKER) jointly hosted the 18th IFKF Conference, 2018 from 10th to 12th December 2018 at Hotel Savera, Chennai. The International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) was formed to foster international collaboration and exchange of ideas to improve the health, well-being and quality of life of individuals with kidney disease thereby leading the way for the prevention and treatment of kidney disease. The IFKF has a presence all over the world and helps in establishing more Kidney Foundations and facilitating existing Foundations to become more dynamic and effective. At the inauguration, the Chief Guest Dr J. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare department, Government of Tamil Nadu spoke about the challenges in handling Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).

There were interesting sessions on CKDu (CKD of unknown etiology) and the possibility of genetic factors compounded by environmental factors having a role to play in this. The talks on policy dialogues in Malaysia and Mexico, as well as CKD screening over 12 years in Jalisco, Mexico emphasised the need to support primary care doctors more and do targeted screening. The sessions on CKD & nutrition – a paediatric perspective, women and kidney health, and living kidneydonors underlined the problems faced by vulnerable populations.

There were presentations on Sagliker Syndrome, Chronic Interstitial Nephritis in agricultural communities (toxic nephropathy), Acute Kidney Injury in Africa, and Managing HCV. The sessions on Managing and Fundraising for Foundations, Leveraging social media for Foundations, Role of media in influencing the public about organ donation and transplantation, and Awareness & screening In Tamil Nadu yielded critical insights on how to engage with the public. The consensus session dealt with slowing CKD progression with management of nutrition, obesity, and dietitian support. A Global Renal Internet Course for Dietitians (GRICD) is available.

The international speakers included Prof. Joel D Kopple - USA, Prof. Gamal Saadi - Egypt, Prof. Kamyar Kalantar - USA, Prof. Tilakavati Karupaiah - Malaysia, Mr. Paul Beerkens – Netherlands, Dr. Guillermo Garcia Garcia – Mexico, Dr.Zaki Morad – Malaysia, Prof. Yahya Sagliker– Turkey, Prof. Marc De Broe – Belgium, and Dr. Esther Obeng - Ghana. The faculty from India included Dr. Manisha Sahay – Hyderabad, Dr. Arpana Iyengar – Bengaluru, Dr. Santosh Varughese – Vellore, Dr. Arvind Conjeevaram – Bengaluru, Dr. Digumarthi V S Sudhakar – Hyderabad, Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan, Mrs. Rajalakshmi Ravi, Mr. S. V. Venkatesan, Mr. G. Ananthakrishnan, Dr. Sunil Shroff, and Dr. Sumana Navin, all from Chennai.