United Health Foundation Gives $500,000 to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to Help Expand Kidney Paired Donation Matching Service
United Health Foundation has given $500,000 to United Network for Organ
Sharing (UNOS) to integrate UNOS’s kidney paired donation (KPD) matching
service into the national transplant system’s technology infrastructure.
One of the fastest-growing areas of transplantation is living donation,
in which transplant candidates obtain the organ (often a kidney) they
need from a healthy, living donor. Until recently, no transplant could
take place if a patient was incompatible with his or her living donor.
Today, KPD enables willing but incompatible donors to help their
intended recipients obtain transplants. KPD matches one incompatible
donor/recipient pair to another pair with a similar incompatibility, so
that the donor of the first pair gives to the recipient of the second,
and vice versa. The two pairs exchange kidneys, resulting in two
transplants that could not have otherwise taken place.
The funding from United Health Foundation will help UNOS automate
current features of KPD matching that are now performed on a manual and
scheduled basis, thus making KPD matching services more readily
available to all kidney programs and their patients over the next year.
United Health Foundation is being joined by Pfizer, the Amgen Foundation
and Genentech in funding this innovative and much-needed resource.
By expanding the KPD matching service, UNOS aims to provide every U.S.
kidney transplant program universal access to a larger pool of
candidates and donors in order to facilitate more life-changing kidney
transplants. The impact of paired donation on the transplant field is
unprecedented. According to UNOS, it is estimated that, once fully
operational, hundreds more transplants will take place. In addition, it
is expected to reduce waiting times for organs and lead to better
outcomes, as candidates who receive kidneys from living donors live
longer, on average, than people who receive kidneys from deceased donors.
“We are very grateful for United Health Foundation’s support,” said UNOS
Vice President/President-Elect Kenneth Andreoni, M.D., who has
spearheaded development of UNOS’ KPD services. “It will help us in key
areas such as software programming, training and educational resources
for KPD users, transplant candidates and prospective donors. This gift
helps us focus our efforts on providing more transplant opportunities
for all transplant candidates with potential living donors.”
“The exciting work that UNOS is doing to facilitate kidney paired
donation will lead to shorter waits, more transplants and better health
outcomes,” said United Health Foundation President Kate Rubin. “United
Health Foundation is grateful for the opportunity to support an
organization that will improve the health and well-being of thousands of
people, and even save lives.”
Often, kidney donors are genetically related to the transplant
candidate; however, candidates are not always compatible with their
potential donors. In this instance, KPD allows a potential donor to
still donate. “Paired donation,” or “paired exchange,” involves two
pairs of potential living kidney donors and transplant candidates who
are incompatible. The two candidates exchange donors so that each
candidate receives a kidney from a compatible donor. In some cases, this
type of exchange has involved multiple living kidney donor/transplant
candidate pairs, creating a chain of donors “paying it forward” to
benefit others.
About the United Health Foundation
Guided
by a passion to help people live healthier lives, United Health
Foundation provides helpful information to support decisions that lead
to better health outcomes and healthier communities. The Foundation also
supports activities that expand access to quality health care services
for those in challenging circumstances and partners with others to
improve the well-being of communities. After its establishment by
UnitedHealth Group [NYSE: UNH] in 1999 as a not-for-profit, private
foundation, the Foundation has committed more than $200 million to
improve health and health care. For additional information, please visit www.unitedhealthfoundation.org.
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