EUROPEAN KIDNEY PAIRED EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

ongoing

Live kidney transplantation is the best therapeutic alternative for patients diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease. Kidney exchange programs (KEPs) have emerged in some European countries as a strategy to overcome biological incompatibilities between potential live kidney donors and their intended recipients. KEPs allow to combine incompatible donor-recipient pairs to conform new donor-recipient pairs with no genetic or emotional relationship, but with a biological compatibility for live kidney transplants to proceed. KEPs in Europe have kept sophisticating over the years to improve the access of patients to safe live kidney transplants, among others, through the creation of some international programs. EURO-KEP brings together policy makers, clinicians and optimization experts to develop a European KEP that will support countries to establish national KEPs where they do not exist and to participate in international kidney exchanges across European countries. EURO-KEP will implement an IT platform for matching donor-recipient pairs, produce guidelines addressing the ethical, legal, clinical and logistical aspects for an effective implementation of international exchanges (between a cluster of countries and at a pan-European level), and develop an operational, financial and governance plan that ensures the long-term sustainability of this program. EURO-KEP will perform simulations and pilots of national and international kidney paired exchanges.