Anything that enables more kidney transplants is a good thing, Southern District Health Board nephrologist Dr John Schollum says.
Dr Schollum was responding to the Government's announcement of a new National Renal Transplant Service to increase the number of live kidney donor transplants.
Its aim is to increase transplants by 10 each year.
Nationally, more than 600 patients were waiting for a transplant, while about 110 transplants were performed last year.
Each year, seven to eight southern patients had transplants, which were usually performed in Christchurch.
About 85% were living transplants.
Otago and Southland had good rates of living transplant donations compared with other parts of the country.
''We [Otago and Southland] have approximately 25 per million live donors per year, which is similar to the best-performing regions in the world.''
As with any treatment, there were risks, but a transplant was the best option for patients with end-stage kidney disease.
''Anything we can do to improve access to transplantation and increase numbers of people coming forward to donate is a good thing.''
Health Minister Tony Ryall said the shortage of kidneys for transplantation was a serious problem.
''The new National Renal Transplant Service will be led by doctors and renal transplant experts and will help us better co-ordinate transplantation services across the country and increase transplant numbers,'' Mr Ryall said.
It would mean an extra 100 transplants would be performed over the next four years, Mr Ryall said.
