Living Donor Paired Exchange Registry Helps Kidney Patients Get the Transplants They Need/Le Registre de Donneurs Vivants Jumeles Par Echange de Beneficiaires Permet de Sauver des Vies

Canadians are overwhelmingly supportive of the idea of organ and tissue donation and, in fact, thousands of people benefit every year from life-saving or life-improving transplants. Despite this support, Canada's donation rate compares poorly to other developed coutnries, and has remained relatively flat over the past decade. Last year, 249 Canadians died waiting for a transplant. As diabetes, heart and kidney disease rates continue to climb, the demand for transplant is growing, as are the transplant wait-lists. Recognizing a need for improvement, in April 2008, the federal, provincial and territorial governments asked Canadian Blood Services to lead the design of an enhanced system to improve organ and tissue donation and transplantation (OTDT) in Canada. The organization's experience in operating a nationally-integrated delivery system, as well as the trust earned with Canadians, were prime reasons for the selection of Canadian Blood Services for this task.