121 patients on waiting list for organ transplants

The Minister for Health, Godfrey Farrugia, produced a document in parliament in which it was revealed that more than half of the patients currently on the waiting list for organ transplant surgeries were in need of a kidney. 

The minister was replying to a parliamentary question, put forward by Labour MP Deo Debattista, and chairman of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority, in which it was asked how many patients were currently on the waiting list for organ transplants, and which organs specifically they were waiting for.

The document shows that, out of the 121 patients currently on the waiting list, there were eighty persons in need of a kindey, thirty for an eye cornea, five for a liver, four for a heart, and two who were in need of a lung.

The parliament document also revealed the estimated time period which these patients would have to wait before they could recieve their required organ.

Whilst most cases ranged from six months to two years, there were some cases in which persons had to wait for up to four years. This was especially the case for kidney transplants, most likely due to the high numbers of patients waiting for that particular organ.

Farrugia said that these numbers, especially in the case of kidney transplants, indicate that the number of donors in Malta is on the decrease. Furthermore, he said that some donors who did give their organs were not always in the best medical state, resulting in a scenario in which their organs could not be used.