RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Improvements in national kidney transplant policy have evened the rates at which Hispanic transplant candidates receive kidneys from deceased donors, according to data from United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). UNOS serves as the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) under federal contract.
National kidney allocation policy has been refined a number of times over the past 25 years to improve equity in transplant access. A recent analysis of the most recent policy, implemented in December 2014, shows progress on many key goals in its first two years of operation.
As of November 30, 2016, 19.5 percent of candidates listed for a kidney transplant were Hispanic, while an equal rate (19.5 percent) of deceased donor kidney recipients from December 2015 through November 2016 were Hispanic. The analysis also shows parity in listing and transplant rates among African-American and Caucasian candidates.
“This is an important achievement not only for minority candidates, but for trust in the national transplant system,” said Sylvia Rosas, M.D., MSCE, chair of the OPTN/UNOS Minority Affairs Committee. “Everyone needing a transplant depends on someone else’s personal decision to become an organ donor. It helps in donor education and outreach to know that our diverse communities have a fair chance to benefit from a transplant.”
Media Briefing
Learn more about the changes to allocation policy that evened the playing field and what issues remain.
Date: Thursday, July 13, 2017
Time:
3:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: Sylvia Rosas, MD., MSCE,
Chair OPTN/UNOS Minority Affairs Committee
Dr. Rosas will take questions after her presentation.
Registration URL: https://attendee.gototraining.com/r/3346327738869819905
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) serves as the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) by contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Division of Transplantation. The OPTN brings together medical professionals, transplant recipients and donor families to develop national organ transplantation policy.
