World Kidney Day, celebrated annually on March 10th, 2011 is a time when the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundation (IFKF) come together to step up awareness about our kidneys, with a purpose of reducing the global burden of kidney diseases.

Chronic renal failure is a gradual and progressive loss of the ability of the kidneys to function normally. The change is irreversible and is due to loss of nephrons of the kidney. The nephrons are basic functioning unit of the kidney and there are normally about one million nephrons in each kidney. When patients begin to experience symptoms of kidney failure, most of their kidney function is lost.

Kidney transplantation is the transfer of a healthy kidney from one individual (donor) to another (recipient) through a specialized surgery. It is one of the best treatment options for patients with kidney failure. A number of advances such as the development of immunosuppressive agents and improvement in the surgical techniques have resulted in a notable increase in the quality of life of the patients who have received renal transplants.

Dialysis using a filtering process of the blood by a machine is called hemodialysis. Dialysis using the natural filtering membrane of the body called "Peritoneum" is called Peritoneal Dialysis. In serious kidney disease, kidney function is impaired or totally lost. In such a situation, it is by the process of "Dialysis" that waste products and excess fluids are removed from the blood.

Excretion can be defined as the removal of toxic waste products of metabolism from the body. These wastes can be either solid, liquid or in the gaseous state. The liquid wastes are ammonia and urea, which exist in the blood along with the nutrients and other useful substances. Two kidneys in human beings are such organs that perform this task. There is a distinct advantage of the two kidneys in our body. If one kidney fails, the other can still deal with functions of excretion and regulation.