According to statistics from relevant Taiwanese departments, in the past four years, more than 300 people receive organ transplants each year in the Taiwan region, with liver and kidney transplants accounting for the top spots as well as gaining the most experience. Heart and lung transplants still have room for improvement, with the lowest survival rates for lung transplant recipients.
According to reports from Taiwan's "central news agency," for the four years of 2001 to 2004, Taiwan's "Bureau of National Health Insurance" listed 1,352 organ transplant cases, with kidney transplants topping the list at 686 cases, accounting for 51 percent of the total, followed by liver transplants at 402 cases or 30 percent of the total. Third would be heart transplants at 212 cases and 16 percent of the total and lung transplants accounting for only 3 percent of the total. Overall medical expenditures related to these organ transplants neared 900 million new Taiwan dollars (US$27 million).
Compared to the US "United Network for Organ Sharing," the survival rate of Taiwanese kidney transplant patients was 98 percent for the first three months after the operation, 96 percent one year after the operation and 92 percent three years after the operation, comparable to American levels.
In liver transplants, the survival rate was 91 percent after 3 months, 88 percent after one year and 84 percent after three years, equal to America's standards, with Taiwan's three year survival rate superior to America's.
In heart transplants in Taiwan, the survival rate was 80 percent after three months, 70 percent after one year and 66 percent after three years, showing that Taiwanese heart transplant patients' survival rate after one year has gotten quite close to those in the US but the three year survival rate has room for improvement.
In Taiwan's lung transplants, the survival rate was 58 percent after three months, 40 percent after one year and 19 percent after three years, barely half of America's comparable rates.
(Chinanews.cn September 29, 2005)
