Greater Awareness and Improved Governance of Transplant Tourism Among Desperate Patients is Needed

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ronald Parsons, Emory University; Priyadarshini John, AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad
• Language: English
• Date: 2023-04-03
• Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2023 International Society of Nephrology. Published by Elsevier Inc.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2023.02.1083
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: KIDNEY INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 693
• End Page: 695
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Urology & Nephrology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) carries tremendous morbidity and mortality risk. The Global Burden of Disease study data from 1990 to 2016 demonstrate increases in CKD incidence, prevalence, and deaths by 89%, 87%, and 98%, respectively.1 The local situation also matters substantially because the level of development and geography leads to varied measures of burden. The analysis found that the global impact of CKD is significant, rising, and unevenly distributed with major influences related to population growth and rates of diabetes in certain areas. The desperation facing patients with CKD, especially those dependent on renal replacement therapies, creates strain across national and local health care delivery systems. Not surprisingly, patients continue to explore any means necessary, often outside their country or continent, to achieve access to kidney transplantation, which has led to a growth in “transplant tourism” for nearly 10% of all kidney transplants.2 The main factors favoring utility of transplant tourism include absence of a living donor (or absent capacity to seek a living donor), better immune compatibility, religious beliefs, and economic advantages. Yosuke Shimazono described 4 modes of transplant tourism as follows: (i) when the recipient travels to the donor’s country of residence, (ii) when the donor travels to the recipient’s country of residence, (iii) when both the donor and the recipient from the same country travel to another country, and (iv) when the donor and the recipient from 2 different countries travel to a third country. These modes explain the complexity and legality involved in transplant tourism.