Number of living organ donors doubled in 7 years

For the last 3 years, the number of living organ donors has exceeded the number of deceased donors, according to the Canadian Organ Replacement Registry of the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The number of living donors doubled from 1994 to 2001 but has since levelled out to an overall rate of 13.8 per 1 million Canadians. The highest living organ donor rate occurred in Alberta, where there were 19.3 living organ donors per 1 million people. Quebec had the lowest rate at 6.9 per 1 million population.

Figure.

The 2003 overall cadaveric donor rate in Canada was 13.5 per million population, a rate that has remained steady over the last decade. The rate of cadaveric organ donors is highest in Quebec and Saskatchewan at 19.0 per million population and lowest in British Columbia with a rate of 9.4.

Almost three quarters (73%) of the patients on organ waiting lists required kidney transplants. Last year, 250 patients died while waiting for new organs: 82 were waiting for a kidney, 100 for a liver, 30 for a heart, 26 for a lung and 12 for other organs.

The total number of transplants rose from 1473 in 1994 to 1804 in 2003, but the rate of heart transplants has remained between 4.9 and 6.2 per million population over the past decade.

There has, however, been an increase in the number of lung and heart–lung transplants, which averaged 127 during the last 4 years compared to 86 during the previous 4 years. — Lynda Buske, Associate Director of Research, CMA