Annual report of organ procurement in Japan: report from the Registration Committee of the Japan Society for Transplantation (2021)

Abstract

This report presents the Japanese status of organ procurement from deceased donors for organ transplantation in 2020 just within the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. The Act on Organ Transplantation was established in July 1997 and amended in June 2009. After the enforcement of the amended Act on Organ Transplantation in July 2010, the number of brain-dead donors vastly increased. But the total numbers of deceased donors for organ transplantation were almost the same from 2015 to 2018. In 2019 the total number increased to 125. But within COVID-19 pandemic, the number decreased to 77. In this situation, the number of brain-dead donors in 2020 was kept almost the same from 2015 to 2018. The Japanese Society for Transplantation would like to express its deepest gratitude to those who have expressed their willingness to donate their organs despite the difficult circumstances, to the families who have agreed to donate their organs, and to the medical staff, other related people, and transplant coordinators who have been involved in organ donation in order to respond to their wishes.