Evaluation of the Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Distribution of Kidney Transplants in the World in 2019 and 2020

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has had adverse effects in every field. One of the affected areas is organ supply and transplantation. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the pandemic period on the number of kidney transplants in 2019 and 2020 in countries with a population of 40 million and above. Material and Methods: We evaluated kidney transplants from living and deceased donors reported between 2019 and 2020 from the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation (GODT). We obtained the number of kidney transplants in countries with a population of 40 million and over before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The total number of kidney transplants performed in 2019 and 2020 of countries with a population of 40 million or more, which sent data to the GODT database, were respectively: Sudan 313 and 139, Algeria 270 and 91, Argentina 1,675 and 854, Spain 3,423 and 2,702, Colombia 947 and 526, Republic of Korea 2,293 and 2,280, Italy 2,139 and 1,907, France 3,643 and 2,595, UK 3,649 and 2,567, Thailand 679 and 712, Germany 2,132 and 1,909, Iran 2,101 and 1,240, Turkey 3,863 and 2,498, Philippines 300 and 132, Ethiopia 35 and 8, Japan 1,913 and 1,697, Mexico 2,976 and 913, Russian Federation 1,473 and 1,124, Bangladesh 205 and 155, Nigeria 164 and 165, Pakistan 1,306 and 129, Brazil 6,298 and 4,830, United States 24,273 and 23,644, India 9,751 and 5,486, China 12,124 and 11,037. Conclusions: Compared to 2019, deceased and living kidney transplants increased only in Thailand in 2020, while kidney transplants in other countries have decreased. Countries where deceased kidney transplants increased in 2020, were Thailand, Korea, and the United States. Total kidney transplants in Turkey decreased by 35.4% in 2020 compared to 2019.