Along those lines, the Department of Defense has announced that it will spend $160 million in public-private investment in the new AdvanceD Tissue Biofabrication Manufacturing Innovation Institute “to research and develop next-generation manufacturing techniques that can be used to fix and replace cells and tissues that may one lead to organ replacement”.
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Almost 31,000 organs were transplanted in the United States last year, but the sizable gap between demand and supply generally widens every year, leaving tens of thousands of people on waiting lists.
The efforts seek to close the gap between the 95% of Americans who support organ donation and the almost 50% of Americans who are registered donors.
Monday’s developments build on earlier actions by the Obama administration to improve the organ transplant process and support living donors.
More than 120,000 people are on the US organ donation wait list.
Through this initiative, service members around the country also can help some of the hardest-to-match veterans and their dependents to receive transplants using kidneys from the military share program, while at the same time facilitating life-saving kidney-paired donation chains for civilian patients, officials said. “So if they are traveling more than 60 miles from their home to the transplant facility, we’ll cover their travel and lodging starting with the day they travel to the hospital for their donation surgery, and for up to 30 days after discharge from the admission”, Rodriguez said.
The investment was announced at a White House summit to discuss and highlight the role of science, technology and innovation in organ transplantation.
Seven government agencies are to invest $3 million over a three-year period in bioengineering to advance understanding of wound fix, as well as methods for the regeneration and preservation of organs and tissue. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the nation’s Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, will increase efficiencies in the organ procurement and transplant system as well as the potential number of transplants through new technology and data tools that are open to transplant centers and the research community. Medicare pays more than $34 billion per year for dialysis to treat patients with end-stage kidney failure.
Today’s announcements represent an essential step toward increasing access to organ transplants and reducing the organ waiting list. By eliminating potential obstacles, this is meant to encourage more organ donations.
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The U.S. government announced plans on Monday to invest $200 million to help shorten the waiting list for patients waiting for organ transplants.
