US health officials have announced that people who need kidney or liver transplants will now be able to receive an organ from a donor with HIV under a new rule. Earlier, such surgeries were performed only as part of studies for research purposes. However, the new rule will shorten the wait for organs for everyone – regardless of health status.

This will increase the pool of available organs.

“This rule removes unnecessary barriers to kidney and liver transplantation, expands the organ donor pool and improves outcomes for transplant recipients living with HIV,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. ”

HIV organ transplant is completely safe

According to a study published in New England Journal of MedicineThe practice will be completely safe. For the study, nearly 200 organ recipients were followed for four years, comparing those who received kidneys from HIV-positive donors with those whose kidneys came from donors without HIV.

Overall survival rates were equally high and rates of organ rejection were low in both groups.

According to experts, the rule builds on the federal government’s promise to advance health equity and reduce barriers to care for people living with HIV. By increasing the pool of available organs and streamlining the transplant process, the policy is expected to not only save lives but also reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and reduce costs and waiting times.

The rule, which applies specifically to kidney and liver transplants, reflects the power of biomedical evidence to inform policy. The expansion of the HOPE Act was driven by a large body of evidence, much of which was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and HHS, showing that transplants from donors and recipients with HIV compared to those from donors without HIV. Shows non-inferiority of kidney transplantation between. For recipients living with HIV.

previously conducted studies Showed that organs from HIV-positive donors were safe

In 2010, surgeons in South Africa provided the first evidence that the use of HIV-positive donor organs was safe in people with HIV. But the practice was not allowed in the United States until 2013 when the government lifted the ban and allowed research studies.

First, the studies were with deceased donors. Then in 2019, a team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore performed the world’s first kidney transplant from a living donor living with HIV into an HIV-positive recipient.

All told, 500 transplants of kidneys and livers obtained from HIV-positive donors have been performed in the US.

HIV donor organ plant to be expanded

The National Institutes of Health has now published a notice seeking public comment on proposed amendments to its research criteria for transplantation of other organs such as the heart, lungs and pancreas.

According to doctors, this effort will streamline requirements and continue to generate evidence-based data on outcomes for organs other than liver and kidney.

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