Kidney Research UK welcomes the news that the number of patients registered on the kidney transplant list this year has fallen four per cent from 5,233 to 5,033.
The news comes from the NHSBT’S Organ Donation Activity report 2017/18 which was released today and shows the number of deceased kidney donors has increased by 11 per cent, to 1,480.
This continues the overall trend of the active waiting list falling year on year, with a 30 per cent reduction since 2009.
In the last year, kidney transplants from living donors increased by one per cent to 1,020, while transplants from deceased donors increased by 10 per cent to 2,573.
Seventy-eight kidney transplants were made possible by the paired living kidney donation programme.
And there were 89 non-directed altruistic living kidney donors; this led to 138 patients benefitting from a living donor transplant.
Peter Storey, director of communications at Kidney Research UK, said: “The latest figures from the NHSBT Organ Donation Activity report are positive and we will continue to encourage people to sign the Organ Donor Register, including amongst those communities in which the levels of organ donation are particularly low, and the risk of kidney failure higher. Most importantly we need to urge people to have the conversation with their families about their choice, making their wishes clear.”
And he added: “Currently, kidney transplantation remains the gold standard for treating kidney failure, but there is still so much more to be done in terms of researching new treatments and methods which could make more transplant operations a success. And Kidney Research UK is funding research right now, that aims to make kidney transplants work better and last longer.
“Kidney transplants make up 80 per cent of all transplant operations in the UK, and this only serves to highlight the urgent need for increased research into this area. Every year, we have to turn down many of the excellent research ideas we receive, because we haven’t the money to fund them all.”
The full NHSBT Organ Donation Activity Report 2017/18 can be found here: https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/supporting-my-decision/statistics-about-organ-donation/transplant-activity-report/