Nephrology in Brazil

Nephrology in Brazil was organized as a medical society in 1960. A publicly funded system provides no fee and universal health care for all people within the national territory, including renal replacement therapy, with coverage of renal dialysis and kidney transplantation. With a population of 210 million, 133,464 patients are currently on dialysis. Hemodialysis is the main modality of renal replacement therapy, treating 92% of the patients on chronic dialysis. Peritoneal dialysis and convective therapies are still underutilized. The transplantation program is one of the largest in the world, with about 6000 kidney transplants per year. This chapter presents a general overview of nephrology in Brazil, covering historical aspects, the main renal diseases, and renal replacement therapy, including hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and kidney transplantation.