The number of organ donations from deceased Canadians has increased in recent years, but Saskatchewan and Manitoba continue to lag behind the rest of the country.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan, however, have had the lowest deceased donor rate. Together, the two provinces had a rate of 11.7 donors per million people in 2016. That’s up from 10.7 the previous year.
The province does rank amongst the top three across the country for kidney transplants.
“A record 57 Manitobans, including six youth, received kidney transplants in 2016 through Manitoba’s Renal Transplant Programs at HSC Winnipeg and as of this fall we’ve already surpassed that previous high,” said Dr. Peter Nickerson, Medical Director, Transplant Manitoba, adding final numbers for 2017 will be announced in January.
Of those kidneys donated, 25 came from living kidney donors, up 15 donations from the previous year.
Canadian Blood Services attributes the increased numbers to improvements in the organ donation system, such as having specialized hospital staff to identify and refer potential donors.
Organ transplants by the numbers
2,906 solid organs were transplanted in Canada in 2016:
- Kidneys: 1,731
- Livers: 579
- Lungs: 302
- Hearts: 202
- Pancreases: 92
