Kidney transplants increase across all populations following policy changes

in focus

Latest data report shows new policies are working as predicted.

Kidney transplants have increased for all age groups, ethnicities, blood types and diagnoses since the implementation of new allocation policies earlier this year.

In March of this year, changes to kidney allocation took effect that aimed to distribute organs more broadly and increase access to lifesaving organs. Now, the most recent data confirm that the policies are working as intended. The latest monitoring report shows kidney transplants for all populations have increased following the implementation of the new policies.

The post-policy era saw a 22 percent increase in kidney transplants when compared to the pre-policy era, from 4,926 to 6,025
The average number of transplants per week increased by more than 19 percent in the post-policy era, from 331 to 395
Transplants increased for all age groups, blood types, CPRA and diagnoses

The new policies were projected to increase equity in access to kidney transplant by distributing organs more fairly to people waiting for an organ. Kidney allocation is now no longer tied to artificial boundaries related to organ recovery, and all patient populations are experiencing increases since the changes were implemented.

The full report

Read more key takeaways from the report, which contains key measures of the first three and a half months of the new system. Access the full report on the OPTN website.