From December 4, 2024, the US will officially allow kidney and liver transplantation from HIV donors to recipients, which also have this virus. Previously, such operations were possible only within the framework of scientific research, but now they will become part of standard medical practice.
This initiative has several important advantages: it will reduce the waiting time for patients with HIV, which require organ transplantation, which sometimes lasts from two to five years, and will help reduce the stigmatization of patients.
The first successful transplants between HIV people were conducted in South Africa in 2010. In the US, the first permits for such operations appeared in 2013, but only as part of clinical studies. The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has confirmed that a transplant from HIV donor is as safe as from a donor without a virus.
Professor Christine Duran from John Hopkins Medical School, one of the authors of the study, said:
"This opens the door for fair access to medical services for people with HIV, demonstrating the lack of difference in the results of transplantation between and without HIV donors."
Innovation marks an important step in combating prejudices and expanding access to modern medicine for people with HIV.
