Keeper of "The List"

The mission of the United Network for Organ Sharing or U.N.O.S. is to "advance the organ availability and transplantation by uniting and supporting our communities for the benefit of patients through education, technology and policy development." In other words they are the keeper of the kidneys and all organs for donation here in the United States. They are responsible for:

• Managing the national transplant waiting list, matching donors to recipients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 
• Maintaining the database that contains all organ transplant data for every transplant event that occurs in the U.S. 
• Bring together members to develop policies that make the best use of the limited supply of organs and give all patients a fair chance at receiving the organ they need, regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, religion, lifestyle or financial/social status. 
• Monitoring every organ match to ensure organ allocation policies are followed.
• Provides assistance to patients, family members and friends.
• Educates transplant professionals about their important role in the donation and transplant processes.
• Educating the public about the importance of organ donation.

The United Network for Organ Sharing was established after the "National Organ Transplant Act" was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1984 to address the nations critical organ donation shortage and to improve the organ matching and placement process. The law also established the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network or O.P.T.N. which maintains the national registry for organ matching. This is when "The List' came to be. Now nearly 30 years later we have a "List" of 96,000 plus waiting for kidney transplants and the same shortage issue. Allocation of organs is one of the most important functions of these entities. Deciding who gets which organ has been a topic of discussion for years. Recently, the policies have been reviewed and changed;  the implementation of these new policies will be coming in late 2014. 

Organ donation and kidney transplant issues are my passions when it comes to discussing the lives of those suffering from chronic kidney disease. As you know by now, I have been living with CKD for the last 15 years and in need of a kidney transplant. So this decision affects me personally. The biggest benefit to me is that the new policy will create a sliding scale of additional priority for high sensitized candidates. What that means is patients whose blood has become highly sensitized mainly due to multiple blood transfusions will have a better chance at getting a transplant. Over the last 10 years I have had 28 blood transfusions due to multiple surgeries and severe anemia issues. This has been the reason I have waited so long to find a match. Under the new policies my chances increase to find a match. The new policies also will enhance access to transplantation for patients with biological disadvantages including less common blood types. I happen to be o negative which is harder to match than other blood types so this change in policy will also help me find a match. Also once a patient is accepted as a transplant candidate, their wait time will be calculated from the date their GFR scored less/equal to 20 ml/min. or when the patient started dialysis not from the day they were listed as in the current allocation policy. 

The new policy changes are expected to increase overall "life years"  of transplanted organs and reduce the need for future repeat transplants. The matching process will not change for the majority of kidney transplant candidates and will improve those who receive additional priority. I believe the new policies will improve the lives of many transplant patients but we still need to promote organ donation because as good as the new changes may be we still need the organs to accomplish these goals. 

Writing this blog is just one of many reasons I have enjoyed working with Northeast Kidney. It has allowed me a platform to talk about organ donation, the new allocation system and so many other topics that affect my life on a daily basis. And part of their mission is to promote organ donation through their Advocate's Alliance. 

I want to thank you for joining me on this journey, I look forward to your comments, questions and concerns.

Keep on fighting all you Kidney Warriors! 

~Kidney Blogger