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Soaring no. of patients dying on organ transplant waitlist

By organ type, almost half of patients were waiting for kidney transplants -- a total of 6,994, or 49.4 percent -- followed by liver transplants with 5,652, or 39.9 percent, heart transplants with 634, or 4.5 percent, lung transplants with 542, or 3.8 percent and pancreas transplants with 320, or 2.3 percent.

Ahn Sung-mi

Ahn Sung-mi

The Korea Herald

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Thematic photo for organ donation. PHOTO: 123RF/ THE KOREA HERALD

October 17, 2024

SEOUL – The number of patients dying while waiting for an organ transplant has soared, and average wait times are also rising, data showed Tuesday.

According to data from the National Institute of Organ, Tissue and Blood Management provided to Rep. Park Hee-seung of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the number of patients who died while on transplant waitlists increased by 1.4-fold, from 2,145 in 2019 to 2,907 last year. In the first half of this year, waitlist deaths had already reached 1,514, indicating the total is likely to exceed last year’s tally.

From 2019 to this June, a total of 14,159 patients died while on transplant waitlists. By region, Gyeonggi Province accounted for the most deaths with 3,281, or 23.2 percent of the total, followed by Seoul with 3,039, or 21.5 percent, Busan with 1,142, Daegu with 882, Incheon with 847, South Gyeongsang with 834, and North Gyeongsang with 802.

By organ type, almost half of patients were waiting for kidney transplants — a total of 6,994, or 49.4 percent — followed by liver transplants with 5,652, or 39.9 percent, heart transplants with 634, or 4.5 percent, lung transplants with 542, or 3.8 percent and pancreas transplants with 320, or 2.3 percent.

The number of people on transplant waitlists rose by 1.3-fold, from 32,990 in 2019 to 43,421 in 2023. As of June this year, 43,570 patients were on a waitlist.

The average wait time has also lengthened. For kidney transplants, wait time has increased from 2,196 days in 2019 to 2,802 days, or about seven years and seven months, this year. The wait time for pancreas transplants has grown from 1,263 days to 2,104 days in the same period, whereas heart transplants have increased from 211 days to 385 days.

“Patients who could survive with an organ transplant are dying while waiting,” said Park, stressing the need to address these delays.

He called for comprehensive measures, which he said should include improving conditions for transplant recipients and ensuring a quicker response when a potential donor is identified.

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