Mr. Chair, I would be very pleased to do that.
Every year, thousands of Canadians receive transplants of solid organs, stem cells and pancreatic islet cells. End stage renal, liver, lung, heart, pancreatic and small intestinal failures are now treated by organ replacement. For cancer, stem cell transplantation can be a cure. However, there are currently more than 4,000 Canadians on wait lists for organ transplants and far more than can be accommodated by the current rate of organ donation. Achieving a good quality of life for these patients remains a challenge.
The CIHR transplant workshop participants identified the need to improve both the quality and quantity of living and deceased donor organs, and improve our understanding of the mechanisms and pathways mediating transplantation related infection inflammation. These kinds of challenges have happened after an organ transplant. Even some of the drugs that are used toward ensuring there is no rejection is a challenge as well.
Overcoming the rejection and establishing long-term tolerance to grafts are an important aspect to this. Tacrolimus is a drug that my husband had some challenges with when he had his transplant. Further recommendations are developing improved therapeutics to sustain graft survival with few adverse side effects and expediting their uptake into clinical practice, establishing tailored transplantation polices and programs for children and other vulnerable populations, and developing national standards of clinical care and mechanisms for the long-term follow up of Canadian transplant recipients. This was a very important workshop in Montreal.