Editor’s note: Entertainer Pat Boone, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young and actor Robert Hays of “Airplane” fame signed on as authors of a guest essay provided by US Blood Donors.org for Mississippi Today on “Kidney Chains.” It is a process where people who plan to donate a kidney for a needy family member agree to allow their kidney to go to another recipient if the potential donor is not a match for the family member. Then another kidney might become available for the family member of the original donor.
This guest essay, though, written from a national perspective is of special importance to MT Ideas since Mississippi is among the states with the highest number of kidney disease-related deaths per 100,000 adjusted for age, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
Hundreds of thousands of dialysis patients in the United States could receive lifesaving kidney transplants sooner if one simple idea became widely known: “kidney chains”— sequences of living-donor transplants that allow one donor to save multiple lives.
The goal is simple: Make “kidney chains” a household phrase.
Kidney chains allow living donors who are incompatible with their intended recipient to help initiate a sequence of transplants that can save multiple lives. The concept builds on Nobel Prize-recognized work in market design and has already enabled thousands of lifesaving kidney transplants.
Yet most Americans have never heard the phrase.
More than 86% of people on organ waiting lists need kidneys. Many dialysis patients face very difficult long-term survival prospects while waiting.
Greater awareness of kidney chains could help expand living-donor transplants and give many more patients the chance to receive a kidney sooner.
There is also a major public policy dimension. Since President Richard Nixon authorized federal coverage for dialysis treatment over 50 years ago, care for kidney failure had grown to represent nearly 25% of Medicare’s budget – 1-2% of the entire U.S. federal budget. Kidney transplantation is generally far less costly than long-term dialysis, meaning more transplants could save billions in healthcare spending.
A more complete explanation of the concept is automatically sent when someone registers at USBloodDonors.org. If you’re curious, please take a look — and if you find the idea worthwhile, consider sharing it to help make “kidney chains” a household phrase.
Hence then, the article about kidney chains could save lives and billions of healthcare dollars advocates say was published today ( ) and is available on Mississippi Today ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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