U.S. health authorities have introduced a new regulation that allows individuals with HIV to receive kidney or liver transplants from donors who are also HIV-positive. This change, announced on Tuesday, marks a significant shift from previous policies, where such procedures were only permissible in research settings. The rule, which is set to be implemented on Wednesday, aims to expand the number of available organs, thereby reducing wait times for transplants for all patients, irrespective of their HIV status.

Xavier Becerra, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, stated that this new rule eliminates unjustified obstacles for patients in need of kidney and liver transplants. He emphasized that increasing the organ donor pool would lead to better outcomes for recipients living with HIV.

Extensive research supports the safety of this practice, highlighted by a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which monitored 198 organ recipients over a period of up to four years. The study analyzed the results of recipients who received kidneys from HIV-positive donors and those who accepted organs from non-HIV-positive donors. Findings from the research revealed that both groups experienced similarly high survival rates and low levels of organ rejection.

The concept of utilizing organs from HIV-positive donors dates back to 2010 when surgeons in South Africa demonstrated that this approach was safe for patients with HIV. However, in the U.S., it wasn’t until 2013 that the government ended a long-standing ban, allowing research to explore its viability. Initially, only deceased donors’ organs were used, but in 2019, a groundbreaking achievement occurred at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where the first kidney transplant was performed using a living donor with HIV for a recipient who also had the virus.

To date, there have been approximately 500 successful kidney and liver transplants from HIV-positive donors conducted in the United States, paving the way for a more inclusive and effective organ transplant system.