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| Source: MatchingDonors.com |
Given the tremendous shortage of organs for kidney transplantation
it’s refreshing when something innovative that works in one country gets
adopted in another.
There have been quite a few innovative approaches to address
the shortage of kidney donors. In
an earlier article I discussed the importance of kidney donor networks.
Today in the UK, a web site that allows personal pleas from recipients to plead for
an organ. An article in the Guardian today discusses this new initiative. The article quotes the UK Human Tissue Authority
(HTA), the UK's transplant watchdog…”which found the website could charge up to
595 US dollars (£376.77) for patients to sign up.”
The
web-site is called the
MatchingDonors.com. On the US
matchingdonors website, potential recipients tell their story why they need the
transplant or the kidney but potential recipients don’t pay for the kidney. Matching Donors is now in it's eighth year of existence and boasts that they have over 11,000 registered donors. The website was founded and run by Paul Dooley. Here is some information on how MatchingDonors came about from their web-site:
"MatchingDonors.com was co-founded in 2004 by Mr. Paul Dooley and Dr. Jeremiah Lowney. Mr. Dooley from Canton, MA met with his Internist, Dr. Lowney from Boston, MA. and related a story about his father who was told that although he was very ill from cancer and was told he would be in need of a new kidney soon he would not be placed on the national transplantation waiting list. The reason was because the list was so long that by the time a kidney would become available Mr. Dooley’s father would not still be alive. Obviously this was troubling. Mr. Dooley also the founder an award winning Internet jobboard called CollegeJobBoard.com. He asked Dr. Lowney if a web site matching potential live organ donors to people in need of organ transplant would help the problem of organ shortage. Both men decided to research the issue and found a National Kidney Foundation survey of 1,000 people, which were asked if they would consider live organ donation to a complete stranger. To their surprise, 25% said they would consider the donation. The co-founders then got to work to create the web site.
What’s my take on
this? Fantastic is the answer. We need to be innovative. Anything that provides suitable patients on dialysis or those nearing renal replacement therapy a new
lease on life is great. So hat’s off to the NHS for being nimble enough to recognize the
benefit for patients and implementing this new approsach. I hope other
countries do so as well.
