Almost half of all organ recipients (43%) in BC this year received a new kidney.
According to BC Transplant, another 602 people in the province are on a waiting list for a kidney transplant.
Medical Director for Organ Donation, Dr. Sean Keenan explained to Vista Radio why kidneys remain in such high demand.
“There are a lot more people with kidney failure than other organs, kidneys tend to be quite resilient and most often there tends to be a potential organ donor where their kidneys are Ok to be transplanted.”
He added after a slow start to the year, deceased donations remained steady.
“Living donations stopped completely as it did across Canada for about the first three months of the pandemic but on the deceased donations, which is the side I work we are still getting referrals, and in fact, the referral rates have been pretty good throughout the year.”
“We have had numbers that are as good if not better than any other year on a month to month basis up to the present, so that is good things have rebounded that way – even despite being in the second wave things are being approached differently.”
The demand for other transplants such as lungs, liver, and heart are also occurring at a health clip with a combined 151 procedures.
“Considering that severe slowdown we had early in the year for transplants other than kidneys, the numbers are at very good levels,” added Keenan.
In the north, we have seen one deceased donor in 2020.
Northern Health had 30 organ recipients last year.
There were 237 total organ donors in BC during 2019, the highest amount since 2017.
A total of 3,014 organ transplant procedures (all organs) were performed in Canada last year, an increase of 42% since 2010.