World Kidney Day was celebrated in Italy on March 8, 2012. As in previous years, it was organized by the Italian Kidney Foundation along with the Italian Society of Nephrology. The aim of this special day was to increase awareness among the population that renal diseases are very common in Italy, where it has been calculated that one person out of ten might be affected. World Kidney Day was addressed to promoting this awareness through the most reputed TV channels (with spots dedicated to the prevention of renal diseases) and newspapers (with articles focused on renal disease prevention). In addition, in specially built booths in many squares of Italian towns more than 3000 citizens underwent dipstick urinalysis along with arterial blood pressure measurement. The data were collected by epidemiologists and discussed by the experts of the Italian Kidney Foundation.