The shortage of kidneys for transplantation in Australia

Mathew, Timothy; Faull, Randall; Snelling, Paul

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06665.x

Topics

Desperate people seek desperate remedies

The treatment alternatives available to Australians with endstage kidney failure are dialysis, transplantation or no active treatment. The last of these options allows kidney failure to progress spontaneously to uraemia and death. Over the past decade the number of Australians on dialysis has grown by 6% per annum, adding an additional $25 million yearly to healthcare expenditure.1 This growth is caused by both increasing numbers of people entering dialysis programs and a low rate of transplantation because of a shortage of donor kidneys. Kidney availability in Australia remains low and, if anything, is worsening, with only 6.8% of those on dialysis receiving transplants in 2002, compared with 11.7% a decade earlier.1

1 Kidney Health Australia, Adelaide, SA.
2 Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA.
3 Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW.

Correspondence:

1. Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry. Available at: www.anzdata.org.au/index.htm (accessed Dec 2004).
2. Chadban S. Transplant waiting list. ANZDATA Registry Report 2003. Adelaide: Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry, 2003: 62-63.
3. McDonald SP, Russ GR. Survival of recipients of cadaveric kidney transplants compared with those receiving dialysis treatment in Australia and New Zealand 1991–2001. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2002; 17: 2212-2219.
4. Levey AS, Beto JA, Coronado BE, et al. Controlling the epidemic of cardiovascular disease in chronic renal disease. National Kidney Foundation Taskforce on Cardiovascular Disease. Am J Kidney Dis 1998; 32: 853-906.
5. Australia and New Zealand Organ Donation Registry (ANZOD). Available at: www.anzdata.org.au/anzod/anzodwelcome.htm (accessed Jan 2005).
6. Council of Europe. International figures on organ donation and transplantation — 2003. Newsletter Transplant 2004; 9(1): 18-20. Available at: www.coe.int/T/E/Social_Cohesion/Health/TRANSPLANT%20NEWSLETTER%202004.pdf (accessed Jan 2004).
7. Pfizer Australia Health Report August 2004. www.pfizer.com.au/Media/Transplants.aspx (accessed Jan 2005).
8. US Dept of Health and Human Services – Division of Transplantation. The organ donation breakthrough collaborative: best practices final report. September 2003. Available at: www.organdonor.gov/bestpractice.htm (accessed Jan 2005).

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.