March is Kidney Awareness Month and March 9th is World Kidney Day.

Despite being vital organs, kidneys are all too often overlooked or ignored as part of our overall health.

But the increasing number of people with kidney disease is an important challenge facing the Canadian health care community.

Bruce Krentz with the Northern Regional Health Authority has more.

“One in ten Manitoba adults are living with kidney disease and most people don’t know it. Until you’ve lost probably about 80 percent of your kidney function, you don’t start to see many symptoms and you don’t know.”

Chronic kidney disease is a major cause of health expenditure, with health care costs for those living with CKD exceed $40 billion per year in Canada.

To learn more about kidney health go to kidney.ca.