Kidney Disease in Ethnic Minority Populations in the Unite Kingdom

The UK population mix of White European/ Caucasian, Black African and Caribbean and South Asian individuals is largely a reflection of fairly recent social and political events. The associations between ethnicity, social deprivation and health outcomes are well recognized and increasingly well studied. Ethnic minority groups have an increased risk of a number of the risk factors for chronic kidney disease – hypertension and diabetes mellitus – but the relationship between these and rates of chronic kidney disease and progression to end-stage kidney disease requiring renal replacement therapy are not fully understood. The social and cultural context in which these ethnic minority groups are accessing healthcare must be recognized, studied and understood if we are to deliver equal outcomes and equity of access for all.