Recent organ transplantation situation in Taiwan 2008

摘要

The first successful living related renal transplantation was performed in May 1968 by Prof. Lee Chun-Jean in Taiwan. Most organ transplantation programs are performed in medical centers, i.e., heart (N: 16), cadaveric liver (N: 20), living liver (N: 12), lung (N: 9), kidney (N: 33), pancreas (N: 2), bone (N: 9), bone marrow (N: 14) and cornea (N: 50). However, the number of cadaveric donors remains constant at around 100-150 per year while more than 7,000 patients are registered on the waiting list for transplantation.The demand for organ donations has been rising daily, however, the supply of cadaveric organs is still below demand. There were approximately 6,000 people (heart: 94, liver: 659, lung: 28, kidney: 4,641, pancreas: 46, cornea: 571) registered on organ waiting lists at the end of August 2008. However, there are only 160 voluntary organ donors (heart: 64, liver: 40, kidney: 170, lung: 7, pancreas: 7, cornea: 200, skin: 21, bone: 27) every year, the ratio is 7 persons per million in Taiwan.Transplantation medicine differs from other medical fields in that it requires the cooperation of many professionals. In Taiwan, transplantation surgeons need government backing for greater financial support to perform and manage this complex treatment. Since 2008, the Taiwanese government has recognized the cost effective of organ transplantation in the care of organ failure patients; the Bureau of National Health Insurance has guaranteed payment of the fees for the transplantation operation and immunosuppressive drugs. As an added benefit, this policy should encourage more surgeons to become transplantation surgeons.