Cyprus ranked 16th out of 85 countries in living kidney donations

Cyprus ranks 16th on kidney donations from a living donor, out of a total of 85 countries that provided data, Minister of Health, Michalis Hatzipantela said on Friday.

The Minister, who inaugurated the Dr. George Kyriakides Transplant Clinic of the Nicosia General Hospital, also said that to date, the Transplant Clinic has successfully performed 263 transplants, 179 live donations, nine incompatible transplants and eight pediatric transplants.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the Ministry of Health and the Transplant Council are making continuous efforts to upgrade and develop existing procedures and projects.

In his speech, the Minister of Health said that this is yet one more clinic that is being upgraded to better serve patients. The clinic, he added, provides high-level services of distinguished and renowned scientists.

Hadjipantela also said that in Cyprus there are today more than 1,000 patients on dialysis, while only 20 kidney transplants are performed annually, "which ranks our country in the 16th place in relation to kidney donations from a living donor, out of the total 85 countries that provided data."

Furthermore, he said that Cyprus ranks 48th in relation to posthumous donor kidney transplants, according to the data available for 2020.

He also referred to the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Health and the Spanish Health Ministry for cooperation as regards transplants.