Senator Larissa Waters announced on Monday night that she will step down as Greens leader due to a decline in her health. Waters had been managing pre-existing chronic kidney disease (CKD) while carrying out her duties.
"For some time now I've been quietly managing chronic kidney disease alongside doing the work I love. But recently it's taken a downturn, and I need to be honest with myself about not being invincible," she said in a statement.
The announcement has also drawn attention to the challenge of detecting kidney disease. Reports from the Brisbane Times and The Sydney Morning Herald note that only 7.4 per cent of Australian adults self-reported having the condition, while about 14 per cent show biomedical signs of CKD. The disease can be asymptomatic, meaning many people do not realise they have it until it is too late for treatment.
Jonathan Craig, vice president and executive dean of the College of Medicine & Public Health at Flinders University, said the kidneys filter the blood and remove waste products. "All of us pass urine, and urine contains a number of chemicals which, if left in the body, would cause damage ... But as kidney function declines through a number of diseases, it reaches a level that the body is adversely impacted by the build-up of toxic waste," he said.
Because the kidneys play such a vital role, chronic kidney disease can affect the entire body. The senator will take some time away from parliament following her announcement.