RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to analyze the role of governments in relation to the burden of chronic diseases and the potential response within the framework of competing priorities that determine resource allocation. METHODS: The following variables were analyzed both in retrospect and prospectively: the epidemiologic transition and the current effect of degenerative chronic diseases, the epidemic of diabetes and kidney disease in minority populations and developing countries, the potential response from healthcare systems, the relationship of chronic kidney disease vs quality of life and costs, and the differences between developed and developing countries. RESULTS: In Latin America, as in many other regions, cardiovascular diseases (ie, heart diseases and stroke) kill many people at early stages of renal disease. Only some survivors have access to renal replacement therapy. Those deaths can be attributed to the lack of systematized prevention and control programs to encompass chronic diseases and relate to poor engineering of adequate financial support. The Latin American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension is fostering a cardiovascular, cerebral, renal, and endocrine-metabolic health program in which 12 countries in the Latin American region implement different strategies, including allocation of national funds and strengthening of transplant programs. The focus of these strategies is on promotion, prevention, rehabilitation, research, and teaching. CONCLUSION: Developing countries should implement cardiovascular, cerebral, renal, and endocrine-metabolic health programs to improve efficiency of sanitary regulations and retrieve the huge amount of money that is spent on illnesses associated with the absence of systematized kidney disease control and follow-up programs.