Yale Gets Green Light to Perform HIV-to-HIV Organ Transplant

Yale New Haven Hospital becomes the eighth transplant center and the fifth hospital that gets green light to perform transplantation of HIV-infected organs. The approval is received from the United Network for Organ Sharing.

In a press release, Peter Yoo, MD of Yale New Haven Hospital, said that there has been a shortage in organ donors albeit how important it is for their patients. YNHH will perform its first HIV organ transplantation soon this month.

In March, the scientist team from Johns Hopkins Medicine performed HIV to HIV liver and kidney transplants at the Yale New Haven Hospital. HIV patients are prone to chronic illness and there has been an increase in kidney transplantation needs.

Organ transplantation from an HIV positive was an illegal procedure, back in 1988. The law prevented doctors from using an HIV-infected organ to save a life of an HIV patient due to the 'ineligibility' to receive a transplant. Now, it has been found to bring many survival benefits, while reducing the waiting list.

The medical advances have contributed to the science and success of high-risk solutions. In November 2013, President Obama made HOPE (HIV Organ Policy Equity) Act official - allowing organ donor from an HIV patient to another HIV patient.

By giving an HIV-infected organ to an HIV-infected patient, it simply means more hopes to thousands of patients in waiting lists

According to Dr. Sander Florman of Transplant Institute at Mount Sinai, the approved organ transplantations can help reducing mortality. Speaking to VICE, Dr. Florman said that there have been up to 2,000 of donors in a year and the number is currently the largest increase. This means, the waiting time is reduced and everyone will have a better chance of survival.