Health and Community Services
May 26, 2015

The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Steve Kent, Minister of Health and Community Services:

Minister Highlights Official Launch of National Organ Donation Program

Mr. Speaker, I’m pleased to rise in this Honourable House today to acknowledge the official national launch of the Highly Sensitized Patient or HSP program for kidney donation and transplantation. The national launch was recognized across the country this past Friday and marked the successful implementation of the new program in all Canadian provinces and territories. Our province has been participating in the program since October 2013.

The HSP program represents a collaborative effort between Canadian Blood Services and provincial and territorial governments around the country. The program enhances kidney donation and transplantation for those whose immune systems are more likely to reject transplants, posing difficulty in finding a match.

By participating in this new national organ sharing program, our province gains access to a Canada-wide pool of kidney donors for patients who need a more specific donor match. Under the program to date, two highly sensitized patients in our province have been successfully matched with transplants and three patients across Canada have received transplants from residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, a key component of the HSP program is its link to the Canadian Transplant Registry, an online registry operated by Canadian Blood Services. With direction and combined funding from provincial, territorial and federal governments, and in collaboration with stakeholders and the organ donation and transplantation community, Canadian Blood Services developed the registry to support provincial organ programs, making organ sharing across jurisdictions more efficient.

Highly-sensitized patients wait much longer on average for a kidney transplant and have a greater chance of becoming more ill or dying while they wait. In addition, these patients often require complex chronic care while they wait for a transplant.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Canadian Blood Services for their excellent work in bringing this program online. I would also thank them for their continued dedication within the non-profit sector and their work to advocate for the health and well-being of all Canadians.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

2015 05 26                              1:50 p.m.