The health ministry revealed Thursday its final draft for overhauling its organ transplant system, which would enable patients to register with multiple hospitals for such surgeries.
The policy, set to be implemented by the end of the fiscal year, aims to address situations in which high-priority patients miss out on transplants due to logistical issues, such as staffing shortages or the unavailability of operating rooms at designated hospitals.
Currently, patients seeking transplants must register with a single hospital on the Japan Organ Transplant Network (JOT). If a hospital declines an organ due to such logistical or other issues, it is instead offered to a patient at another facility.
Allowing multiple registrations is expected to increase the likelihood for high-priority patients to receive transplants. To aid patients in the selection of hospitals, JOT will also publish data on waiting lists and the number of transplants performed at each facility.
The reform proposal, approved by an expert panel, also includes creating regional entities to share JOT’s responsibilities for organ allocation. These organizations will handle discussions with families of potential brain-dead donors about organ donation and consent processes, while JOT will focus on selecting transplant recipients.
The ministry plans to gather public feedback on the proposal and revise its guidelines under the Organ Transplant Law accordingly.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.