Organ transplants in Portugal are back on the increase. Between January and November 2013, doctors performed 684 transplants – as opposed to 634 in 2012.
Data quoted by Lusa news agency also shows that 2013 saw more donors, with 24 more last year than the year before, providing 52 more organs (with a yearly total of 763).
According to a report from the Portuguese Blood and Transplantation Institute (IPST), the increase in cardiac and liver transplants played an important part in the positive new trend.
Pancreas and lung transplants increased as well, while kidney transplants continued their downward trend.
The news comes after the Portuguese government assembled a group of researchers in 2012 to try and identify the main causes of the country’s low level of organ transplants, and suggest ways to increase them.
The think-tank concluded there was a “lack of transparency and an inequality in the sharing out of money” for transplants, and that Portugal had not been “taking advantage of the possible donors it had, registering significant inequalities from region to region”. With any luck, 2013’s data shows things are changing finally.
Organ transplants enjoyed a heyday in 2009, when the country registered an impressive 928.
March 30, 2023 Edition
PORTUGAL RESIDENT
Printed Edition