Some doctors are already calling it “the new pandemic.” In Mexico, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is one of the leading causes of death, but the health sector is operating somewhat blindly in its management, as there is still no national registry to determine the exact number of patients; much less can it monitor for early detection or provide the most appropriate treatments for those who suffer from it.
The situation is aggravated because a large part of the adult population suffers from the main risk factors for this disease: diabetes mellitus (18%), high blood pressure (between 30% and 50%), and obesity and overweight (75%). Official estimates indicate that, as of March 2025, nine out of ten people with CKD were unaware they had it.
According to the National Medical Care Protocol (Pronam) for CKD, recently developed by the Ministry of Health (Ssa), it is a “serious public health problem worldwide, particularly in Mexico. The global prevalence is close to 9%, but in our country it could be higher, up to 15 percent.”
The National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT 2022) revealed that the prevalence, or number of people with the disease, was steadily increasing that year and could reach 22.8% in adults aged 20 and over.
“It’s being called the new pandemic because, not only in Mexico but worldwide, it’s one of the diseases that is growing most rapidly. It is estimated that 10% to 14% of the adult population worldwide has some degree of chronic kidney disease,” warns Olynka Vega Vega, president of the Mexican Institute of Nephrological Research (IMIN).
In an interview, he highlights the lack of a national registry for chronic kidney disease (CKD): “Imagine how big the problem is that we don’t even know how many people are sick! It’s a bit tricky because it could also be that the authorities don’t want us to know how many people are sick, because that implies money and the capacity to provide care. It’s a red flag for Mexico because we are one of the few countries in Latin America that still doesn’t have a registry.”
Another figure illustrates the scale of the problem: of the 18,912 people who, as of November 2025, were waiting for an organ or tissue transplant to survive, according to the National Transplant Center (Cenatra), at least 14,000 need a kidney transplant. “The big problem is that only about 700 are being transplanted a year. It’s nothing!” he laments.
Vega Vega warns about a comorbidity that poses a risk for CKD: Mexico has the highest rate of childhood obesity in the world. Children “will almost certainly develop these complications at a younger age.”
And she warns that “it’s a ticking time bomb. Right now, we’re not even seeing it because, in our culture, these are children who aren’t considered sick, neither they nor their primary care physicians see them that way. So, how are you going to do blood and urine tests right now to see if they have chronic kidney disease, if they’re a healthy child?”
She clarifies that the government measures to prohibit the sale of junk food in schools to prevent obesity “should have an impact, but we’re only just beginning to see it, and if we don’t measure it, how are we going to know? We have nothing to compare it to, we don’t have a record, we have no way to measure it.”
On December 8, 2025, the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) reported that, of the 7.6 million public elementary school students assessed by medical personnel from the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) in the “Live Healthy, Live Happy” program, almost four million are obese or overweight, but only 7% have received nutritional counseling.
Olynka Vega, who also coordinates the Hemodialysis Unit in the Nephrology Department at the Salvador Zubirán National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition (INCMNSZ), mentions that they have approached members of Congress, senators, and governors every year to promote the creation of a National Registry of Chronic Kidney Diseases (CKD), but have not yet succeeded. Currently, registration is mandatory in some institutions, but not nationwide. At the local level, it is only required in Jalisco.
Optimistic, she believes that the Ministry of Health’s announcement of the reactivation of the National Cancer Registry in September 2025 “opens the door” to the creation of other registries, such as those for CKD and Rare Diseases.
This nephrologist and internist acknowledges that “creating a national registry is not easy.” Beyond the financial resources, she explains, “the complicated part is who would transfer the information to that database… Healthcare systems are already overloaded; it would be an extra burden to have staff assigned to populate that database in every institution.” And then, maintain it.
Imagine going to the IMSS (Mexican Social Security Institute), which provides social security coverage for 70% of Mexicans, and saying, ‘Now you also have to do this.’ There are many areas that need addressing, but I think the main problem is who would fill out these records,” she says.
According to the specialist, in Latin America, only Brazil, Argentina, and Chile have mandatory registration forms. In Mexico, a law is needed mandating their creation and requiring all institutions, public and private, to complete them when treating a patient with chronic kidney disease.
On March 10, in the context of World Kidney Day, a proposal to create the “National Registry of Information on Kidney Diseases” was presented in the Senate. Sponsored by Senator Emmanuel Reyes of the MORENA party, the objective is “to integrate a national database that allows us to know more precisely how many people receive renal replacement therapies, what the geographical distribution is, and what the main causes of the disease are.”
If approved, this registry will allow, the legislator says, “strengthening research, improving health planning, and guiding public policies focused on the prevention, early detection, and treatment of chronic diseases.”
While the legislative process unfolds, the president of the IMIN (Institute of Renal Medicine), Olynka Vega, explains that there are already medications on the market that, in the early stages of CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease), “can slow the progression of the disease. Hence the importance of being able to identify cases.”
He acknowledges that the Ministry of Health (SSA), under David Kershenobich, has taken steps to address priority health conditions in Mexico, developing 10 National Programs for the Management of Chronic Kidney Diseases (PRONAMs) for diseases such as type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, chronic kidney disease (CKD), obesity and overweight, systemic hypertension, and cancer in children and adolescents, among others. These programs were presented in early December 2025 at the National Palace.
Regarding CKD, he says that this protocol should allow primary care physicians to conduct the necessary screening from the first consultation and, if needed, order screening tests, including blood and urine tests, to detect the disease before referring patients to a nephrologist.
This is also an obstacle in addressing this new pandemic: in Mexico, there are only about 1,300 certified nephrologists, and they are concentrated in large cities, according to Vega Vega. Therefore, he suggests that primary care physicians should be “empowered” with the knowledge necessary to detect CKD from early stages.
Source: proceso
