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Health Check: Transplant hope as kidney blood groups swapped

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Surgeons in Operating Room with organ transplant box

2022/08/17 GMT

Transplant hope as kidney blood groups swapped

BBC World Service - Health Check, Transplant hope as kidney blood groups swapped

Changing the blood groups of kidneys could improve access to donated organs

Blood group change could improve kidney transplant access; a new Covid vaccine approved in the UK; can surgeons overseeing multiple operations help cut surgery waiting lists?

A new Covid vaccine – which targets both the original virus and one of the latest Omicron variants – has been approved for use in the UK. About half of the 26 million older and vulnerable adults in the UK who are due a booster this autumn should get the new vaccine. 

There’s news of British scientists changing the blood group of donated kidneys – which could boost the supply of organs for transplant. Professor Magdi Yaqoob says switching to blood type O means the organs can be transplanted into any patient. We hear from Ravi Singh whose life was transformed last month when he got a new kidney from a live donor. He wants everyone to discuss donating with their family and to carry a donor card.  

The pandemic delayed hospital treatment for many – so to help deal with waiting lists some hospitals are trying out 'overlapping' surgery – with one senior surgeon supervising two operating theatres, and more junior surgeons carrying out the more straightforward parts. When it was tried in the US there were concerns around consent and safety but we hear how only doing 30 minute procedures means that a month’s worth of operations can be done in a day. 

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Paula McGrath

(Picture: Surgeons in an operating room with an organ transplant box. Photo credit: Plan Shooting 2/Imazins/Getty Images.)

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