A record number of organ transplants were performed in Israel in 2017, but 94 terminally ill patients still died while waiting for transplants, according to a report by the National Transplant Center summing up its activities for 2017.
A total of 285 organ transplant procedures were performed in Israel using organs from deceased patients. In addition, 113 kidney transplants took place in which the translplanted kidney was donated by relatives of patients, and 109 kidney transplants took place in which the donor kidney came from altruistic strangers. An additional 13 patients received liver lobes donated by family members. More than 100 transplants from living organ donors were facilitated by the nonprofit group Matnat Chaim – Volunteers for Kidney Transplantation.
Israeli medical centers performed a total of 359 kidney transplants, 78 liver transplants, and 18 heart transplants in 2017. Combined kidney-pancreas and liver-kidney transplants were also performed.
The percentage of families of brain-dead patients who agreed to donate their loved ones' organs remained steady at 62%.
Despite the increase in organ donations, there is still an urgent need for more donor organs. In 2017, 8.3% of chronically ill patients died while waiting for an organ transplant. Of these, 26 were waiting for a liver, and 20 were waiting for a lung.
Currently, 1,138 patients in Israel are on the waiting list for donor organs, including 840 waiting for kidneys, 110 for livers, and 102 for lungs.
Over one-third of transplant recipients (37%, or 107 patients) were given preference over patients in a similar medical condition because they were registered organ donors. One out of eight Israelis – 924,000 – is a registered organ donor.
Professor Rafi Beyar, chairman of the National Transplant Center, said that in 2017, the center signed an agreement with Cyprus to cooperate on finding living kidney donations for patients who could not be matched in their own countries.
"We hope that in the next few months, we will be able to carry out the first 'cross-match' between the two countries," Beyar said.
National Transplant Center Director Dr. Tamar Ashkenazi said, "This year, 62% of families who lost loved ones wanted to save [others'] lives and donate their organs to seriously ill patients. We are proud of that number, which shows more than anything that when it really matters, the public demonstrates commitment to one another and looks out for one another, overcomes disputes, and contributes to saving lives."
