A 23% reduction in organ transplants this year to medical gaps...Pancreatic Transplantation 56% ↓

Organ transplant surgery has also decreased significantly this year compared to last year due to prolonged medical gaps caused by legislative conflicts.

According to the data received by Jeon Jin-sook of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, the number of five organ transplants, including kidneys and liver, pancreas, heart and lungs, was 835, down 22.8% from the same period last year.

Among them, 16 cases of pancreas were transplanted between February and August last year, but only 7 cases were performed this year, a decrease of 56.3%.

In addition, heart transplants decreased 27.8% from 151 to 109 cases, kidney 523 to 398, liver 18.3% and lung transplants decreased 17.8%.

By hospital, the number of organ transplants at Asan Medical Center in Seoul decreased by 35.2% from last year, and Severance Hospital decreased by 34.4%.

Due to the lack of medical personnel to persuade the families of brain-dead patients to donate organs, only 246 brain-dead people agreed to donate organs from February to August this year, down 19.9% from last year.

Lawmaker Jeon Jin-sook said patients are not receiving organ transplants in a timely manner due to medical gaps, and that the government should open the door to resolving legislative conflicts by making an official apology and replacing the person in charge.