On April 18, 2024, volunteer leaders of ASN met with their congressional delegations to discuss the need to provide $67 million in fiscal year 2025 for the Health Resources and Services Administration Organ Transplantation Program to implement the Securing the US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Act, included as part of Health Resources and Services Administration's OPTN Modernization Initiative.
Currently, more than 100,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant, including more than 90,000 people waiting for a kidney. Although approximately 27,000 kidney transplants were performed in the United States in 2023, this accomplishment is far short of the need of the tens of thousands of people who were waiting for a life-saving kidney transplant that same year.
In 2023, Congress passed the Securing the US OPTN Act, which aims to improve the performance, transparency, and efficiency of our transplant system by modernizing the information technology infrastructure, establishing independent governance, enabling competition, and revitalizing core functions of the OPTN. This legislation includes some of the most significant improvements to the OPTN in its 40-year history.
As Congress begins to draft funding legislation for fiscal year 2025, ASN members urged their members of Congress to continue their commitment to implementing the Securing the US OPTN Act and provide funding to support these vital patient-centered improvements. ASN will continue to advocate for funding of the transplant network as Congress continues its funding process so that people seeking a kidney transplant can benefit from increased transparency, accountability, and best-in-class services.