Renal service during the COVID-19 pandemic (Association of nephrologists position statement)

The editorial touches upon the problem of the possible impact of COVID-19 on CKD patients, mediated by the forced reorganization of the health care system in a whole, the redistribution of its resources in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lack of regular outpatient monitoring, delayed diagnosis and therapy in patients with kidney dysfunction are factors of adverse clinical outcomes - accelerated disease progression, ESKD development and the need for KRT, life-threatening complications, reduced quality of life and survival. The data of a pooled analysis of the impact of the pandemic on specialized renal care and its availability in a number of regions of the Northwest Federal District of Russia and the Moscow Region are presented: a fall in hospital admissions, outpatient consultations and a decrease in the use of hospital beds (on average, by 37 %, 40 % and 32 %, respectively). Principles and conditions of the functioning of health systems associated in the COVID-19 pandemic have been discussed. The main approaches to maintaining the standard level of renal patients care have been formulated, aimed at preventing an unfavorable patient-oriented CKD outcomes.