500 kidney transplants have been performed in Belgium in three years, the Belgian Transplantation Society reported on Wednesday.
The transplants are part of the national kidney preservation program launched in October 2022 to meet growing demand.
The figure is a "real milestone for this project launched less than three years ago," the Belgian Transplantation Society, a non-profit organisation, stated. It is particularly significant because these interventions have yielded "excellent results" in terms of patient survival.
End-stage renal failure is characterised by a deterioration in kidney function, which loses its ability to filter waste from the blood. Its prevalence is increasing in Belgium and elsewhere due to an aging population and the rise in diabetes and hypertension.
Forecasts suggest the illness could become the fifth leading cause of death worldwide by 2040, the Belgian Transplantation Society noted. The only treatment options remain dialysis (removal of waste and fluids from the body) and, above all, kidney transplantation, which offers better long-term survival.
High demand
However, making transplants happen can be difficult. Barely 4,000 transplants are available for every 10,000 people waiting in the Eurotransplant Foundation area (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Slovenia).
To meet this growing demand, Belgium has expanded the selection criteria for potential donors. Although their kidneys can be successfully transplanted, they are at higher risk of delayed function or developing complications. Preservation techniques have therefore been improved, offering better results.
By increasing the number of available kidneys, waiting times are reduced and more people are able to receive a transplant quickly. These encouraging results are the result of "active collaboration" between different transplant centers in the country.
