Ireland: Transplant and donor figures rise

[Clark]

http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=19905

Transplant and donor figures rise
by Niall Hunter

The number of kidney transplants from living and deceased organ donors has increased substantially in 2011, according to the Irish Kidney Association (IKA)

To date this year, there have been 137 kidney transplants from 77 deceased donors and 24 from living donors.

The respective figures for the whole of last year were 98 and 23.

According to IKA Chief Executive Mark Murphy, following the major decline in organ donations in 2010, the level of deceased donations so far this year has already exceeded 2010 figures.

He said the ground lost with transplants in 2010 should be completely recovered by the end of this year.

Mr Murphy said while living donation will represent a greater part of Ireland's kidney transplant programme in the future, another source of donors that Ireland does not yet use is non-heart beating donors, and we are currently reliant on deceased donors as a result of brain stem deaths.

In addition to kidney transplants, six pancreas transplants have taken place at Beaumont Hospital so far this year, five of which were undertaken at the same time as kidney transplants.

So far this year, St Vincent's has conducted 49 liver transplants, compared to 39 of these transplants in the whole of 2010.

Four heart transplants have taken place at the Mater Hospital so far this year, compared to three in the whole of last year.

Figures show that Ireland currently has the fourth highest number of patients on kidney transplant waiting lists per head of population among EU countries. Currently, 564 people in Ireland are awaiting these transplants.

European Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation takes place this Saturday, October 22. This is part of a European campaign to highlight the increasing need for organ transplants across Europe.

An IKA fun run fundraiser is taking place on Sunday at 12 noon in Park West, Dublin 12. Further details at www.runforalife.ie