People with HIV can now receive a potentially life-saving kidney or liver from a donor who is also infected with the virus, according to new rules announced Tuesday by the Biden administration.

According to an announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the decision was based on solid evidence that these types of transplants are both safe and effective. 

Prior to the change, transplants where both donor and recipient were HIV-positive had only been allowed as part of a research study. 

The new rule removes any requirement for clinical research and institutional review board (IRB) approvals of these types of kidney or liver transplants.

“This new policy is a significant step forward in expanding access and reducing wait times for life-saving organ transplants for people with HIV,” said Carole Johnson, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, part of HHS. 

HHS said studies showed no differences in outcomes for “kidney transplants between donors and recipients with HIV compared to transplants from donors without HIV to recipients with HIV.” 

Organ transplants involving HIV-positive donors were first performed in South Africa as far back as 2010, according to the Associated Press. 

In 2013, the United States allowed the first such procedures as part of research studies. Since then, more than 500 such transplants have been done in the U.S. as part of such studies, the AP noted.

In 2019, surgeons at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore performed the world’s first kidney transplant from a living donor with HIV to an HIV-positive recipient.

So far, the rule change applies only to transplants of kidneys and livers.  

However, HHS says it is now soliciting public comment on whether research rules on the HIV-to-HIV organ transplants might need revising when it comes to similar procedures involving the heart, lung, pancreas and other organs.

More information

Find out more about organ transplants at UNOS.

SOURCES: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, news release, Nov. 26, 2024; Associated Press

Source: HealthDay

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