Waiting lists and death are too often the outcomes for
people suffering from End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Sadly, this familiar
story occurs in virtually every country across the world.
In the US alone 73,000 people are waiting for a kidney donation and the waiting list is
growing. Since 1999, 30,000 people have died whilst waiting for a kidney that
never arrived.
These figures are reported by Benjamin E. Hippen, MD, a nephrologist (kidney expert), member of leading
transplantation organisations and associate editor of the American
Journal of Transplantation.
His report is
available here and remarkably notes that Iran is the world’s only country to
have eliminated waiting lists. This has been achieved via a kidney vendor
program, made possible through the legalisation of kidney vending.
The program allows vendors to approach a not-for-profit body, Dialysis and Transplant Patients Association (DATPA), which matches them with recipients. Vendors are compensated by the government, receive health insurance and additional funds from either recipients or charities funding recipients. Vendors are assessed with non-remunerated donors and the operation vetoed if the vendor is found to be medically unsuitable.
Whilst noting problems within the system, Hippen notes that the
involvement of an intermediary not-for-profit organisation and other means of legal framework mitigate concerns about organ donation.
This scheme could work in other countries which have organ shortages, thus reducing waiting lists, saving lives and
eliminating illegal organ trafficking.
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