In total, there were 207 kidney transplants, 21 liver, 22 heart, seventeen lung, and three pancreatic transplants.
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, January 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
A total of 270 transplants were recorded in the Canary Islands in 2024, marking an increase of 18.94% in comparison to 2023, as reported by the Government Health Department in a statement issued on Thursday.
Of this total, there were 207 kidney transplants, 21 liver, 22 heart, seventeen lung, and three pancreatic transplants.
The activities logged by the main hospitals within the Canarian Health Service include 21 liver transplants at Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital, 81 kidney transplants at Complejo Universitario Insular-Materno Infantil, and 126 at Hospital Universitario de Canarias, as well as 22 heart and seventeen lung transplants at Doctor Negrín University Hospital in Gran Canaria, plus three pancreas transplants at HUC.
LUNG TRANSPLANT PROGRAM
Since the launch of the Lung Transplant Program in the Canary Islands during the summer of 2023 at Doctor Negrín University Hospital in Gran Canaria, a primary reference centre in the islands, 23 transplants have been carried out, seventeen of which were completed in 2024.
Consequently, the Canary Islands is one of the seven autonomous communities that provide the opportunity to perform this procedure within their own territory, eliminating the need for patients to travel to reference centres in other regions. Given its high complexity, lung transplantation is conducted in only eight hospitals across Spain.
The establishment of these regional programmes has spared Canarian patients from having to journey to the mainland for extended periods while awaiting transplants and during subsequent recovery, as emphasised by Health authorities.
ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATIONS
In terms of organ donations within the Canary Islands, there was a 10.94% increase in 2024 compared to 2023, with a total of 142 donations recorded, including 59 from brain death, 71 from asystole, and twelve from living donors.
Thus, the archipelago continues to achieve record figures for organ and tissue donors, boasting a donor rate of 58.6 per million individuals (pmp), exceeding the national average of 52.6 donors per million. This positions the Canary Islands as the fifth region in Spain for donation activity in 2024.
The figures indicate a 20% rise in donations resulting from asystole compared to 2023, while donations from living donors have also risen by 20%, marking the highest levels recorded since 2016 for this parameter.
Of significance is the fact that donations from patients experiencing asystole in the Canary Islands account for 54.62% of donations from deceased patients, surpassing the national average of 51%.
Donation during controlled asystole facilitates the procurement of organs from individuals for whom the diagnosis of death has been determined based on circulatory and respiratory criteria.
SPAIN RECORDS 6,464 TRANSPLANTS IN 2024, A 10% INCREASE FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR
Across Spain as a whole, a total of 6,464 organ transplants were performed in 2024, equating to a rate of 132.8 transplants per million population (pmp), representing the highest activity recorded to date in the nation, up by 10% compared to 2023’s figure of 5,961 procedures, according to the National Transplant Organisation (ONT).
Overall, more than 146,000 organ transplants have been conducted since records began.
This record achievement has been made possible due to the efforts of 2,562 individuals who donated organs post-mortem, translating to a rate of 52.6 donors per million people, which reflects a 9% increase from 2023.
Furthermore, in 2024, the target of 50 donors, which the ONT set for 2022 under its ’50X22′ Strategic Plan, has been surpassed; this was notably delayed owing to the “devastating impact” of the Covid-19 pandemic, as explained by Minister of Health, Mónica García.
Additionally, 404 individuals who donated organs while alive contributed to the total count of transplants; 397 of these donated a kidney, while another seven provided a portion of their liver. On average, there were eight donations and 17 transplants daily.
These statistics surpass those reported by other countries globally, as highlighted by data from the Global Donation and Transplant Observatory, managed by the ONT as a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organisation (WHO). For instance, in 2023, the United States recorded 48.1 donors; Italy, 29.4; France, 27.6; Sweden, 25.2; Germany, 11.6; and the European Union, 22.9.
