KIDNEY DONOR REGISTRY PROGRAM

(Columbus, OH) I think this is a good idea. Health-care officials and transplant surgeons announced a new program yesterday. It's called a "Paired-Exchange" program.

The creation of a statewide living donor kidney registry will help those who need a kidney and have a friend or relative who wants to donate one - but can�t because they aren�t a blood or immunology match.

If another donor and recipient are found and matched, the surgeries will occur at the same time, even if they are performed in different parts of the state to prevent one side from reneging, said Mitchell Henry, director of clinical transplantation at Ohio State University Medical Center.

The goal is to generate at least 10 potential paired exchanges per month and do at least 50 transplants per year, said Michael Rees, director of renal transplantation and an assistant professor of urology at the Medical College of Ohio.

It should be noted that 133 of 761 Ohioans died while waiting for a kidney transplant last year.