Saving Young Lives’ mission is to reduce preventable deaths from acute kidney injury (AKI) in low-resource countries. We do this by providing training, resources, and sustainable support to hospitals and healthcare teams.

A central focus of our work is acute peritoneal dialysis (PD). In many low-resource settings, advanced treatments like hemodialysis are simply not available. Acute PD offers a safe, effective, and affordable way to treat AKI and save lives. It can be performed with minimal infrastructure, making it especially suited for hospitals in low- and middle-income countries.

In the next 5 to 10 years, our aim is to expand access to AKI care worldwide, build stronger local expertise, and help more hospitals establish sustainable programmes that will continue saving lives for generations.

SYL focuses its efforts where the need is greatest, selecting hospitals and regions based on expert knowledge of areas lacking access to acute kidney injury (AKI) care. Our goal is to create sustainable programmes that last long after training ends. This means local teams gain the skills, confidence, and protocols to diagnose and treat AKI independently.

Since its creation, SYL has trained more than 535 healthcare professionals from 80 countries and more than 140 institutions. We have helped establish AKI services across 47 low-income and 23 middle-income countries, proving that hospitals can successfully sustain programmes without ongoing external support. These achievements show how targeted training and resources can transform care and save lives.

Collaboration is at the heart of SYL’s work. By partnering with hospitals, institutions, and professional societies, we maximise impact and ensure our programmes are both relevant and sustainable.

SYL is made up of three primary partners – the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD), the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), and the International Pediatric Nephrology Association (IPNA) – with the support of the Francophone Society of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation (SFNDT) and the Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology (APSN).

Together with these partners, SYL:

These collaborations allow SYL to reach further, integrate more effectively, and support AKI care at multiple levels.

SYL provides practical, hands-on training to healthcare professionals so they can diagnose and treat AKI effectively in low-resource settings.

Our preferred format is a two-day workshop, often held alongside major medical congresses. These sessions combine:

Workshops are designed primarily for doctors and nurses, equipping them with skills that can be directly applied in their own hospitals and communities.

To ensure lasting impact, SYL follows up with participants through surveys, calls at 3 and 6 months, and ongoing support – helping local teams turn training into sustainable practice.