Current status of renal replacement therapy in Cambodia and Japanese support activities in developing countries in East and Southeast Asia: a report as of June 2018 from the Non-Western World Countries Symposium at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy

Since 2015, the Committee of International Communication for Academic Research of the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy has held a symposium every year at the society's Annual Congress to discuss the current status of and demand for dialysis therapy in developing countries in Asia with the aim of identifying ways to contribute to the field of dialysis therapy in these countries. The 2018 symposium opened the door further, beyond Asian countries to include all non-Western countries. Two speakers from Cambodia and Japan contributed their manuscripts to the 2018 symposium issue. In Cambodia in 2017, a study of hemodialysis data from 5 centers in Phnom Penh was conducted for the first time. This study involving 407 patients (233 men [57.2%]; mean age 52 [SD, +/- 15] years) revealed that hypertension was the main cause of end-stage renal disease (46.8%), followed by concomitant hypertension and diabetes mellitus (31%), with diabetes mellitus alone accounting for only 8.1% of cases. Mean frequency of hemodialysis was 7.5 (SD, +/- 2.3) sessions per month. The duration of each session was 4 h. Patients in Cambodia are required to bear the full cost for hemodialysis because the country lacks a national health insurance system. From 2007 to 2018, several Japanese societies and organizations for dialysis therapy and technology carried out activities aimed at resolving problems in dialysis medical care in developing countries in East and Southeast Asia. The role of the academic societies and their activities in this region are discussed.