The Japan Society for Transplantation is set to expand its mutual support system for medical institutions in an effort to address the issue of declined organ donations. Introduced in 2017, this system involves sending doctors to understaffed medical institutions to assist with organ procurement and transplants. While the system has been successful for kidney, liver, and pancreas transplants, delays have been observed in heart and lung transplants due to variations in techniques and procedures among different institutions. To overcome this challenge, the society plans to standardize transplant techniques and procedures so that the mutual support system can be utilized across all types of organ transplants.
In essence, doctors from transplant facilities will not only perform surgeries within their own institutions but also visit external facilities to procure organs from brain-dead donors and conduct transplants. This mutual aid system helps alleviate the burden on transplant facilities by allowing organs to be procured by doctors from other medical institutions.
The decision to expand this support system comes after it was revealed that some medical institutions had declined organ donations due to personnel shortages among other reasons. Despite a record number of 132 brain-dead organ donations performed in Japan in 2023, three leading university hospitals specializing in organ transplants – University of Tokyo Hospital, Kyoto University Hospital, and Tohoku University Hospital – turned down 62 potential donations according to a survey conducted by the society.
Minoru Ono, head of the Japan Society for Transplantation, announced these plans during an academic conference held in Nagasaki. He also expressed his intention to establish a committee tasked with improving organ transplant facilities and securing personnel. Ono emphasized the need for enhancing the system for accepting organ donations at transplant facilities.
these efforts aim at streamlining processes within transplantation medicine while ensuring that more organs are successfully donated and utilized for life-saving procedures.
