HIV and Organ Donation
HIV and Organ Donations: Lifting the Ban
Federal health officials and other experts are calling for repeal of the provision that bans people who are living with HIV from receiving organ donations from donors that are also HIV positive. Today, thanks largely in part to advances in medication, many people with HIV are living longer than ever. This poses a challenge in that these individuals are also living long enough to suffer kidney and liver problems, which in turn is creating a demand for organ donations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies will soon issue new guidelines that will encourage research involving transplanting HIV positive organs into recipients who are HIV positive. Before this can happen the ban -a 23-year-old amendment to the National Organ Transplant Act- must be lifted.
Available research suggests that organ donations from one person who is HIV positive to another person who is HIV positive are as effective as organ donations from persons not infected with HIV.
Currently there are more than 100,000 people in the United States waiting for an organ donation.
To read The New York Times article about lifting the ban click here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/us/11hiv.html?_r=1
To read more about a clinical study determining the effectiveness of such donations click here: