International: South Africa pioneers HIV-positive transplants: Patients receive infected kidneys after ban lifted: Groundbreaking surgery set to save thousands

• Published in: The Guardian (London)
• Main Authors: Beresford, Belinda, Johannesburg
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: London (UK) Guardian News & Media Limited 25.10.2008
• ISSN: 0261-3077

"HIV patients are at a disadvantage when it comes to getting an organ and dialysis. Even when we try to be fair, they are at a disadvantage competing with people with no chronic illness," she said. "This study opens up an opportunity to help them, even gives them a slight advantage, because of the high number of HIV-positive donors." "[If you have] renal failure and HIV you get told to go home and die," she said. "HIV-positive to HIV-positive [transplants] come from having limited resources and knowing that the patient is going to die. Positive to positive [transplant] is the last alternative. It is an improvement on the in-hospital dialysis machines he was using before. That involved being attached to machines for four hours a day, three times a week. "It's better, but hectic. You have to do the thing the whole day, there is little else you can do. Now time is hard, it is hard to live, hard to earn something, to look after my business," he said. "If I can get a [transplant] I will be the happiest man . . . I still have belief that one day I'll get a donor."