Nearly 5,300 transplants were performed in 2021, less than before the Covid-19 pandemic

Nearly 5,300 organ transplants were performed in France in 2021, a level significantly lower than before the health crisis, announced the Biomedicine Agency on Wednesday January 12. A large majority of the 5,273 transplants performed are kidney transplants, according to the annual report of this agency, which depends on the Ministry of Health.

This figure is up sharply (nearly 20%) compared to 2020. But the comparison is distorted by the fact that that year was very disturbed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Kidney and pancreas transplants, in particular, had been suspended during the first confinement. “We are not yet back to the pre-crisis level”, explained at a press conference Emmanuelle Cortot-Boucher, director general of the agency. “We’re about 10% below it.”

The trend, with more or less marked variations, is the same for all transplanted organs: kidneys, pancreas, heart, lungs, livers have all recorded a clear increase compared to 2020, but a wider downward trend. This cannot be explained only by the Covid crisis, which has certainly considerably accelerated the movement by monopolizing operating theaters on several occasions. The trend was indeed downward since a peak in transplants observed in 2017 for multiple reasons, including a still high refusal rate.