Progress report shows a decade of national collaboration is working to save more lives (OTTAWA) – Canadian Blood Services alongside partners in the Canadian Organ Donation and Transplant Network have released a report detailing a decade’s worth of data on national organ donation and transplantation performance. The Organ Donation and Transplantation in Canada: System Progress Report 2006–2015 includes the most current Canadian statistics on deceased and living donation and transplantation performance. Produced in collaboration with national, provincial and territorial partners, the report

New data released by Canadian Blood Services and the Canadian Institute for Health Information highlights increase in donation rates

All provinces and territories now part of national program Winnipeg, MB – Canadian Blood Services, in collaboration with provincial and territorial Governments and organ donation and transplantation programs officially launched the Highly Sensitized Patient (HSP) program today. Canadians whose immune systems are more likely to reject a transplanted kidney and are difficult to find a match, now have a better chance through this new national organ sharing program. The HSP program uses high quality laboratories to allocate kidneys with an accuracy and efficiency that is unparalleled. “The launch

The integration of donation physician specialists into hospital teams in Canada could help increase organ donations, states a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.130050 Deceased donation rates in Canada are well behind those in many other countries with advanced organ transplant programs. These low rates mean that many patients die before a donor is found; in 2010, 16% of transplant candidates died awaiting a kidney, pancreas or both; 19% of lung transplant candidates, 22% of liver transplant candidates and 24% of heart