Peritoneal Dialysis in Asia

Background: There is a growing demand of dialysis in Asia for end-stage renal failure patients. Diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of end-stage renal failure in many countries in Asia. Summary: The growth of peritoneal dialysis (PD) in Asia is significant and seeing a good trend. With the enhanced practices of PD, the quality of care in PD in Asia is also improved. Overall, PD and hemodialysis (HD) are comparable in clinical outcome. There is a global trend in the reduction of peritonitis rates and Asian countries also witness such improvement. The socio-economic benefits of PD for endstage renal failure patients in both urban and rural areas in the developed and developing regions of Asia are an important consideration. This can help to reduce the financial burden of renal failure in addressing the growing demand of patients on dialysis. Initiatives should be considered to further drive down the cost of PD in Asia. Key Messages: Growing demand for dialysis by an increasing number of endstage renal failure patients requires the use of a cost-effective quality dialysis modality. PD is found to be comparable to HD in outcome and quality. In most countries in Asia, PD should be more cost-effective than HD. A ‘PD-first’ or a ‘PD as first considered therapy’ policy can be an overall strategy in many countries in Asia in managing renal failure patients, Received: August 3, 2015 Accepted: August 4, 2015 Published online: September 11, 2015 Prof. Philip Kam-Tao Li CUHK Carol & Richard Yu PD Research Center, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, SAR (China) E-Mail philipli @ cuhk.edu.hk © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel 2296–9381/15/0013–0147$39.50/0 www.karger.com/kdd For peritoneal dialysis in Western countries, see Struijk, Kidney Dis