WASHINGTON, July 8, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The following is a joint Statement from the
National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and American Society of Nephrology
(ASN) on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)
plans to remove the African American/Black race coefficient
from the Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI) calculation.
This has been a dishonor to African
American/Black donors and a disservice to patients waiting for a
kidney transplant
"ASN applauds the revision of the KDPI without race," said ASN
President Deidra C. Crews, MD, ScM,
FASN. "The revised formula will better reflect the likelihood of
graft failure for kidneys from deceased donors, and appropriately
reflects the fact that race is a social, and not a biological,
construct."
"NKF has been a leader in advancing health equity in kidney
care," said Dr. Sylvia E. Rosas, MD,
MSCE, and NKF President. "We collaborated with ASN to establish the
Task Force on Reassessing the Inclusion of Race in Diagnosing
Kidney Diseases and joined forces with ASN again on a joint letter
to the OPTN urging for the removal of race from the KDRI
calculation. We believe all patients deserve equal access to kidney
care and will continue to work towards that goal. Removal of the
African American/Black race coefficient from the score used to
evaluate the suitability of the kidney for transplantation is
likely to improve transplant equity."
"This has been a dishonor to African American/Black donors and a
disservice to patients waiting for a life-saving kidney
transplant," said Kevin Longino, CEO
of the NKF and a kidney donation recipient. "We applaud OPTN for
advancing this change and are optimistic that this policy will
promote equity and increase the number of kidneys available for
transplant now."
In addition to removing race, the updated KDPI no longer
includes whether or not the donor was Hepatitis C Virus positive.
Thanks to therapeutic advances, post-transplant outcomes for HCV
positive deceased donor kidney transplants are similar to that of
HCV negative donor kidneys.
"With the new approach, some kidneys that may have otherwise
been considered unsuitable for transplantation due to the inclusion
of race in the formula will now receive more favorable scores,
including some that will now be classified with scores that make
them more appropriate for transplant," said Cynthia Delgado, MD, who participated in the
Organ Procurement and Transplant Network task force that led
efforts to reconsider the use of race and HCV in the formula.
Additional Background:
The KDRI is a mathematical
formula that estimates the quality of a donated kidney. Under the
old equation, kidneys from Black donors were graded as having
poorer organ function than kidneys from White donors. The proposed
change was included in OPTN's 2024 winter public comment period and
was approved for adoption by the OPTN board in June 2024.
Nearly 90,000 individuals are on the national kidney
transplant waitlist, and both NKF and ASN have long advocated
for this change through ongoing correspondence with OPTN. Last
September, NKF also launched a nationwide petition calling on OPTN
to remove the African American/Black race coefficient from the KDRI
as part of its KIDNEY EQUITY FOR ALL initiative, a patient-focused
community minded movement dedicated to ensuring that all kidney
patients have access to high-quality, patient-centered kidney care
from the moment of diagnosis to transplantation. The petition was
signed by more than 2,000 NKF advocates.
About American Society of Nephrology (ASN)
Since
1966, ASN has been leading the fight to prevent, treat, and cure
kidney diseases throughout the world by educating health
professionals and scientists, advancing research and
innovation, communicating new knowledge and advocating for the
highest quality care for patients. ASN has nearly 22,000
members representing 141 countries. For more information, visit
www.asn-online.org and follow us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and
Instagram.
About National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney
Foundation is the largest patient-centric organization dedicated to
the awareness, prevention, and treatment of kidney disease. It is
revolutionizing the fight to save lives by eliminating preventable
kidney disease, accelerating innovation for the dignity of the
patient experience, and dismantling structural inequities in kidney
care, dialysis, and transplantation. For more information about
kidney disease, please visit www.kidney.org/.
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SOURCE The National Kidney Foundation