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Mar 25, 2019

The Kidney Foundation of Canada statements regarding the 2019 Federal Budget

Reacting to the federal budget unveiled by Finance Minister Bill Morneau on March 19, 2019, The Kidney Foundation of Canada released the following statements.

Creating a Pan-Canadian Database for Organ Donation and Transplantation

As an engaged member of Health Canada’s Organ Donation & Transplantation Collaborative, The Kidney Foundation of Canada applauds the proposed development of a pan-Canadian data and performance system for organ donation and transplantation, as announced in the 2019 Federal Budget. The proposed investment of $36.5 million over five years will help Health Canada, in collaboration with provincial and territorial partners, to improve consistency and quality in data, allowing more donors and recipients to be effectively matched in order to ensure Canadians have timely and effective access to organ transplant care.

“Each deceased donor donates four organs on average. Every missed donor opportunity deprives at least four Canadians of a life-saving transplant,” notes Elizabeth Myles, National Executive Director of The Kidney Foundation of Canada. “A more coordinated and effective approach to organ donation and transplantation will help to reduce many needless deaths every year across the country.”

Eliminating regional disparities and giving all Canadians with kidney failure equitable access to transplantation is an important part of The Kidney Foundation’s mission, and we are encouraged that the new initiative will go a long way towards achieving that goal.

Moving Forward on Implementing National Pharmacare

The Kidney Foundation of Canada is pleased to see federal support for the establishment of the Canadian Drug Agency which will oversee the development of a new national formulary of prescribed drugs and provide additional support for Canadians with rare diseases. We look forward to integrating the perspectives of patients and the health charity sector as we work with the Federal Government to implement these investments.

More Key Information 

  • Annual cost of dialysis to the health care system per patient: nearly $100,0001
  • First year cost of a transplant to the health care system: $66,0002
  • Cost of a transplant in subsequent years: $23,0002
  • Kidney transplants performed in 2017: 1,7713
  • Number of patients on the waiting list for a donor kidney: approximately 3,5003
  • Median wait time for a deceased donor kidney transplant: 4 years4
  • Province with the longest median wait time: Manitoba (6 years) 4
  • Province with the shortest median wait time: Nova Scotia (3 years) 4

Sources:

1 Manns, Braden et al. “The Financial Impact of Advanced Kidney Disease on Canada Pension Plan and Private Disability Insurance Costs” Canadian journal of kidney health and disease vol. 4 2054358117703986. 17 Apr. 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5406196/

2 Prevalence of Severe Kidney Disease and Use of Dialysis and Transplantation Across Alberta from 2004-2013, http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/about/scn/ahs-scn-kh-annual-kidneycare- 2015.pdf 

3 CORR e-Statistics on Organ Transplants, Waiting Lists and Donors 2017 https://www.cihi.ca/sites/default/files/document/corr-estatistics-2017-en.xlsx 

4 Organ replacement in Canada: CORR annual statistics, 2018, https://www.cihi.ca/en/organ-replacement-in-canada-corr-annual-statistics-2018 (Excludes Quebec)
 


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