In preparing the following information presented to you by the Association for the Advancement and Preservation of the Public Kidney Patients in Israel are many partners: Professional Counseling – Dr. Farhuqui Victor – Key Director of Nephrology and Hypertension, Carmel Medical Center. Tal Kaminsky Rosenberg – Clinical Dietitian. Nepromor – Nephrology Institute Network, Atid Nephrology Forum Management Team – Dietitians Association in Israel. Writing & Editing – Katz-Vodi Selait marketing communications. 

What is a kidney transplant?

In some cases of chronic kidney failure, a kidney transplant can be performed during which a healthy kidney is transplanted into the patient's body. Unlike other organs taken exclusively from the dead, one kidney can also be taken from any living donor. Live donor transplantation has the advantage of dead transplantation because more thorough matching tests can be performed. According to the statistics, the chances of success of an live donation are higher than the chances of success of a kidney donation from a deceased donor.

Transplant patient registration system

Registration of transplant candidates from across the country is done exclusively at the National Transplant Center. Prior to any transplant surgery in Israel, from a living donor or a deceased donor, individual approval from the National Transplant Center – the Ministry of Health, is required. By law, the patient can choose the hospital where the transplant will be performed and the unit staff will register the patient accordingly. Kidney transplants are currently taking place at the following medical centers: Tel Aviv Medical Center (Ichilov), Hadassah, Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson), Rambam and Soroka.
The waiting list for transplant from a dead donor is managed by the Center in a computerized manner. The position in the list is determined based on criteria established by the Center's Steering Committee and includes patient age, medical urgency, donor-to-patient tissue matching, waiting time for transplant, and additional medical criteria. The position in the list is constantly changing in accordance with the changes in the data, for example: worsening of the patient's medical condition, subtraction or extra waiting.

Waiting list

There is no age restriction for kidney transplantation. As a rule, registration for kidney transplant is only possible after dialysis. When a patient is enrolled in a transplant, the length of waiting time will be considered from the start of the dialysis treatments (and not by the date of the transplant registration). A patient on dialysis who enters the waiting list at a certain age, and "past" an age group due to the long wait, will continue to receive the score according to the age group he enters the list (the more waiting the young person gets the more points).