Living Donation
As there is a waiting list for those awaiting kidney transplant from people who have died, efforts need to focus on encouraging people to consider living donation.
Kidney transplantation or renal transplantation is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage renal disease. Kidney transplantation is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantation depending on the source of the donor organ.
Living-donor renal transplants are further characterised as genetically related (living-related) or non-related (living-unrelated) transplants, depending on whether a biological relationship exists between the donor and recipient. Exchanges and chains are a novel approach to expand the living donor pool.
We aim to work our efforts in increasing living donators within the UK and globally.
Living Kidney Donation among Hindu Community
Share the need for more living organ donors using our key messages and information below:
Unfortunately, there are simply not enough organs donated by people who have died to help those in need of an organ transplant.
You can volunteer to donate a kidney or part of your liver whilst you are alive to help someone in need of a transplant. Most often living organ donors are a close relative of the recipient, such as a family member or friend. However, living donors can also volunteer to donate anonymously to someone they don’t know. This is called non-directed altruistic donation.
More than 600 people have donated a kidney anonymously during their life to someone on the National Transplant list, alongside many thousands who have donated to a family member or friend.
Why is living organ donation important?
Around 5,000 people in the UK need a kidney transplant to transform their lives. The average waiting time for a kidney transplant from someone who has died is approximately two and a half years. For some ethnic groups and people with rare tissue types, the wait is longer and sadly some people will die waiting.
Kidneys are the most common organ donated by a living person, with living donors contributing to 3 in every 10 kidney transplants across the UK. A kidney from a living donor offers the recipient the best opportunity of success as living kidney donors usually last longer than those from deceased donors.
If you are interested in becoming a living organ donor or are looking for more information, please visit our website at www.organdonation.nhs.uk/livingdonation where you will also find contact details for living donation teams in transplant centres across the UK.
