South African doctors can now perform transplants across blood group barriers and use Africa’s first liver perfusion machine, yet the country records fewer than 1.4 dead organ donors per million people, leaving thousands waiting for potentially life-saving transplants.
Organ donation is one of the last gifts an individual can give to make a difference in the world.
One dead donor can save up to seven lives, and tissue donation can improve the lives of more than 70 others.
According to Transplant Education for Living Legacies (TELL), a South African non-profit organisation founded by transplant recipients to educate the public, patients and healthcare professionals about organ and tissue donation, South Africa’s transplant medicine is advancing fast, but its donor rate is not.
“South African transplant teams are now performing procedures that were impossible a decade ago, including transplants across blood group barriers and, since June 2026, with Africa’s first liver perfusion machine.
