Portugal transplanted 814 organs in 2022 and reaches a record in the lung – Sociedade
Portugal transplanted 814 organs in 2022 and reached a new record by performing 76 lung transplants, revealed this Friday the Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro.
“In 2022, 814 organs were transplanted in Portugal [dos quais] 476 are kidney transplants. It is normal for this to be the case, but we have reached a record in lung transplantation. We performed 76 lung transplants in Portugal, and this is the highest number ever in this specific area”, said the minister this Friday, on the sidelines of the National Organ Donation Days, which are taking place in Coimbra.
Following the two years of the pandemic triggered by covid-19 – 2020 and 2021 -, in which hospitals were “so recurrent” that this activity was revived a little, the year 2022 was “a good year for the transplantation of organs in Portugal”.
“We are one of the countries that, in relation to the population, most transplants in the world”, recalled the official.
Manuel Pizarro said that he expects that, in the coming years, it will be possible to “increase the number of transplants”.
The country is recovering from the downturn caused by the pandemic, but has not yet reached 2019 figures.
“I hope that 2023 will be the year in which we will free ourselves from this pandemic and fully recover our organ transplant capacity”, he stressed.
The Minister of Health confessed that it is still necessary to make the subject of transplantation “more visible”, which will “further enhance the possibility of greater organ donation”.
“With more organ donation there could be more organ transplants and more organ transplants literally means this: more lives saved and more people with a much better quality of life.”
Manuel Pizarro, in his speech in Coimbra, took the opportunity to thank all the institutions and professionals who, in their daily lives, build this “successful case of transplantation in Portugal”.
The regulation also expressed its total “solidarity” with the measures “that are necessary to be taken, at the legislative, organizational and financial level to ensure that this activity can still grow”.