Take Race Out of the Kidney Transplant Equation

Did you know there is a federal formula that “scores” kidneys from Black deceased kidney donors less favorably than kidneys from non-Black individuals? It’s called the Kidney Donor Risk Index (KDRI), and it includes African-American ethnicity as a donor characteristic to determine the risk of kidney failure after it is transplanted. Race is a social construct and does not belong in clinical care. Kidneys from black donors perform the same functions as kidneys from white donors and the federal government should treat them equitably. 

The National Kidney Foundation believes using race and ethnicity in clinical calculations harms patients and perpetuates racism in kidney care. Join us in our mission to advance health equity in organ donation and kidney transplantation by signing our petition calling on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to remove ethnicity from the KDRI immediately.

Our Petition:

We the undersigned call on the United States Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to remove the race variable from the Kidney Donor Risk Index (KDRI). This outdated and imprecise algorithm harms patients and perpetuates racism in kidney care. It is imperative that we do everything possible to maximize the gift and opportunity of deceased kidney donation and improve health equity in kidney transplantation. Therefore, it is imperative to eliminate race from the KDRI and the subsequently derived Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI) used to assess kidney suitability for organ donation. This action would mean kidneys from Black donors would no longer be inappropriately misclassified and may expand the availability of kidneys for transplantation and potentially increase utilization rates. Kidney failure patients on the waitlist have limited time, their lives are at stake, and they need your rapid action.