Tampa, Fla., February 23, 2010 – The American Association of Kidney Patients’ (AAKP) is pleased to host its 37th Annual Convention in Tampa, Fla. at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina, Sept. 2-4. The Annual Convention provides kidney patients, family members and health care professionals with the opportunity to learn about important issues affecting patient health care as well as have the opportunity to share their experiences and talk one-on-one with world renowned health care professionals.

AAKP is pleased to release a number of general educational sessions scheduled for this year’s program including:

• The Great Debate - Compensation for Organ Donation: How Much Is Too Much? An in depth look at the controversial topic of the ethics surrounding the buying and selling of organs for transplantation;
• Guided Imaginary: Visualizing Good Health. A session for patients at all stages of kidney disease and;
• Living Life to the Fullest: A Survivorship Panel. Listen to patients share both the physical and emotional accounts of long-term kidney disease.

This year AAKP is also offering three educational tracks during its Convention. Each track focuses on a specific stage of kidney disease and/or treatment option: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD/Pre-dialysis) Track; ESRD (Dialysis) Track; and Transplantation Track. Educational tracks are a great way to tailor educational sessions to meet the needs of all Convention attendees. Registered attendees can select to participate in any or all of the educational sessions that fit their specific need (stage of kidney disease and/or treatment option). Tracks allow patients and their families to participate in the educational sessions right for them and their health care plan. For additional information on the educational tracks, please contact AAKP at (800) 749-AAKP or visit www.aakp.org/events/convention/2010/agenda2010.

Hotel reservations can now be made by calling the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina toll free at (888) 268-1616. To receive the preferred rate of $110 per night (single/double occupancy), identify yourself as an AAKP Convention attendee. Please make your reservations as early as possible as the Convention hotel has sold out in past years. The deadline to receive the preferred room rate of $110 per night is Aug. 10, 2010. 

For more information about the AAKP National Convention visit www.aakp.org/events/convention/2010. The Convention Registration Brochure will be available late spring.
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AAKP is the voluntary, patient organization, which for 40 years, has been dedicated to improving the lives of fellow kidney patients and their families by helping them deal with the physical, emotional and social impact of kidney disease. The programs offered by AAKP inform and inspire patients and their families to better understand their condition, adjust more readily to their circumstances, and assume more normal, productive lives in their communities.