Portugal recorded a 36.4% increase in the number of organs transplanted in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2022, the Portuguese Blood and Transplantation Institute (IPST) announced today.
In a statement, the IPST also said that there was a 22% increase in the number of deceased donors, with a rate of 18 donors per million inhabitants.
The data revealed today comes in connection with the National Day of Organ Donation and Transplantation, which is marked on Thursday by the IPST and the Portuguese Transplantation Society (SPT).
According to the president of SPT, around 1,800 people in Portugal are waiting for a kidney transplant, which has an average waiting time of around five years.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, Cristina Jorge recalled the importance of living donation, recalling that last year in Portugal there was a situation of an altruistic kidney donor, who gave to strangers.
In order for living donation to happen, the specialist explained, the person must communicate this desire to one of the seven units that perform transplantation in Portugal.
“Only healthy people can be kidney donors. We must ensure that the person does not have any disease that prevents this donation”, she said, also stressing the importance of “minimizing the risks of this donation for the person himself”, so that he does not later develop kidney failure.
In 2022, kidney transplantation represented 53.2% of all transplanted organs, increasing by 25 transplants (5.5%) with “a significant expression of living donor transplantation”.
According to the IPST, the cross-donor kidney program allowed for five living donor transplants in two cycles last year, with a first cycle of two transplants and a second of three transplants (triggered by an altruistic donor).
The latest data released by IPST indicate that 814 organ transplants were performed last year, 15 more than in 2021.
The figures also show the highest number of lungs ever transplanted – 76 organs in 39 patients.
In 2021, Portugal ranked 4th in the world for deceased donor organ donation, with 29.6 donors pmh.
This year, SPT and IPST dedicate the National Day of Organ Donation and Transplantation to the role of globalization and digitalization in organ donation and transplantation, in an initiative that will take place at the Centro Cultural de Belém, in Lisbon, and where organ trafficking, living donation and cross-donation will also be discussed.
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