In Colombia between 2018 and 2024, 7,374 organ transplants have been registered. In the department, 122 people are on the donor waiting list.
Tunja, June 5, 2023. (UACP). On June 6 of each year, World Transplant Patient Day is commemorated, a date promoted by the World Health Organization in search of raising awareness among communities about the importance of organ donation because, for some people, it becomes a his last chance of life.
It is a date dedicated to recognizing the bravery and resilience of those who have received an organ transplant.
In Colombia this celebration takes on special relevance. Between 2018 and 2024, 7,374 organ transplants have been registered in the country, coming not only from cadaveric donors, but also from living donors.
According to the National Institute of Health (INS), of the 559 people transplanted during 2024, 66.9% of patients received a kidney transplant, while 21.1% received a liver transplant; heart, 6.8%; lung, 3.4%; kidney and pancreas, 0.8%; intestine, 0.3%; pancreas, 0.3%, and kidney and liver, 0.1%.
However, the INS warns that 4,152 patients remain on the organ waiting list and 556 patients remain on the ocular tissue list, figures that indicate that only 51.85% of the patients on the waiting list receive the transplant they need to improve their quality. of life.
Javier Padilla Alarcón, LDSP External Professional – Blood and Organ and Tissue Donation Networks Boyacá, highlighted that in the department, 122 people are on the waiting list for organ transplants. However, only 46 real donors are registered, so work must continue on awareness-raising campaigns.
“From the Departmental Public Health Laboratory and the Boyacá Blood Network we recognize all those people who have received an organ transplant; We know that life changes radically; Many have experienced long periods of illness and suffering before receiving the transplant and the possibility of having a second chance fills them with hope and gratitude. Transplant Patient Day is an occasion to recognize their bravery and to raise awareness in society about the importance of donating organs,” he assured.
(End/ Andrea Páez Restrepo – Communications Secretary of Health of Boyacá / UACP).
Communications and Protocol Administrative Unit.
Boyacá Governorate.
