About 90 percent of kidney disease patient groups nationwide believe there will still be a shortage of organs for transplants despite enactment of a revised Organ Transplant Law aimed at increasing donors.
Many of the groups say public awareness is insufficient and medical institutions lack both equipment and doctors.
The Diet enacted a law in July that recognizes people who are brain dead as legally deceased, and therefore can donate organs. It also paves the way for children under 15 to donate organs.
The law will go into effect next July.
Among people who wish to receive organ transplants and had registered with the Japan Organ Transplant Network as of Nov. 2, 11,814 people were seeking kidneys, 269 were in need of a liver, 172 were waiting for a pancreas and 154 for heart transplants.
In a survey conducted in late October on kidney disease patient groups from 46 prefectures that belong to the Japan Association of Kidney Disease Patients and one nonmember group, 28 groups said they expect the number of transplants using donated kidneys after brain death or cardiac arrest to increase, while 19 said the number will not change.