A genetically modified pig kidney has kept a 66-year-old man with end-stage kidney disease alive without dialysis for a record nine months, marking the first time a pig kidney has successfully served as a temporary “bridge” to a human kidney transplant.

Tim Andrews, from New Hampshire, was suffering from severe kidney failure caused by type 2 diabetes. Doctors said he had only a 9% chance of receiving a human kidney within five years, while facing a more than 40% risk of dying or being removed from the transplant waiting list.

Tim Andrews preparing for surgery in January 2025

Surgeons at Mass General Brigham in Massachusetts transplanted a kidney from a genetically modified Yucatan miniature pig named Wilma into Andrews in January 2025. The kidney functioned for 271 days, allowing him to remain free of dialysis before it began to fail.

After the pig kidney was removed, Andrews spent several months back on dialysis before receiving a kidney from a deceased human donor. The human kidney was functioning well after six months of follow-up, according to findings published in the medical journal The Lancet.

The transplant represents the longest dialysis-free survival recorded following a pig kidney xenotransplant in a living person. It is also the first documented case in which a patient successfully moved from a pig kidney transplant to a human kidney transplant.

Before the procedure, Wilma’s genome underwent 69 genetic modifications. Some changes were intended to reduce the risk of viruses being transmitted to humans, while others were designed to make the pig kidney more compatible with the human immune system and reduce the risk of rejection.

Andrews described the procedure as a “miracle”, saying it allowed him to return to everyday activities. He said he was able to cook, vacuum and take long walks with his dog.

The development could offer a potential solution to the severe shortage of human organs available for transplantation. Kidney transplantation provides the best survival prospects and quality of life for patients with end-stage kidney disease, but the global demand for donor kidneys far exceeds the supply.

Dr Leonardo Riella of Mass General Brigham said the shortage of organs remains “the greatest crisis” in transplantation. He said genetically modified animal organs could initially be used to help patients avoid dialysis while they wait for a human donor kidney and could eventually become a long-term treatment option if their safety and durability are established.

The pig kidney began showing damage to its blood vessels after about six months, eventually leading to organ failure and its removal nine months after transplantation.

Doctors found no new antibodies against human tissue following the procedure, suggesting the pig kidney did not make Andrews’ subsequent human transplant more difficult. No pig viruses or other pig pathogens were detected at any point.

The researchers cautioned that the result is based on a single patient with no comparison group. They said the outcome also depended on careful patient selection and intensive specialist care that may not be available in all settings.

Further clinical trials will be needed to determine whether genetically modified pig kidneys can safely and reliably be used as a bridge for other patients facing long waits for human organs.

The researchers said the case nevertheless provides new evidence that pig kidney transplantation could help address the global organ shortage and potentially offer patients a way to remain off dialysis while waiting for a human kidney.

A new polio vaccination campaign will begin Monday across parts of five Afghan provinces as health authorities step up efforts to prevent the spread of the virus following reports of new cases.

Polio-Free Afghanistan said on Sunday that the campaign will cover all of Nangarhar, seven districts of Kunar, six districts of Kabul, two districts of Herat and two districts of Farah.

The campaign aims to vaccinate children against polio and prevent further transmission of the highly infectious virus.

The campaign comes after a new polio case was reported in Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province. The World Health Organization has previously reported that 15 polio cases have been confirmed in Afghanistan since the beginning of 2026.

Polio can cause permanent paralysis, particularly among young children. Health experts say repeated vaccination remains the most effective way to protect children and prevent the virus from spreading in communities where transmission continues.

Afghanistan and Pakistan remain among the last countries where wild poliovirus transmission persists. Cross-border movement between the two countries has also made vaccination and disease surveillance particularly important.

Polio-Free Afghanistan has urged families to cooperate with vaccination teams and ensure that eligible children receive the polio vaccine to help prevent further spread of the disease.

Nearly one in 10 Afghan children under five is suffering from acute malnutrition as funding cuts force the closure or suspension of hundreds of health facilities, Save the Children said in a statement this week.

The organisation said wasting worsened in two-thirds of Afghanistan’s provinces in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year. Acute malnutrition among children under five has risen by 14% over four years, affecting an estimated 3.7 million children this year.

At the same time, humanitarian funding has fallen by almost 70%, from $3.27 billion in 2022 to $1 billion in 2025. Only $438 million has been secured so far in 2026, leaving a 74% funding gap.

Save the Children said nearly 600 health facilities have closed or suspended services because of funding cuts, affecting around four million people, half of them children.

About 700,000 people, including 140,000 children under five, have lost access to primary healthcare since Save the Children-supported facilities and mobile teams were closed or scaled back because of funding shortages since early 2025.

In a remote mountainous area of northern Afghanistan, the organisation runs the only healthcare facility serving around 10,000 people. The clinic sees more than 100 patients a day, with some walking two to three hours for treatment.

Save the Children said residents who cannot afford the roughly $60 journey to the nearest city hospital would face a seven-hour walk if the clinic closes.

The organisation has kept 14 clinics operating through short-term funding but warned that their future remains uncertain.

Ashish Damle, Save the Children’s country director in Afghanistan, said worsening hunger, mass returns from Iran and Pakistan, displacement, disasters, conflict and prolonged drought were placing humanitarian resources under severe pressure.

“The world cannot look away,” Damle said, warning that poverty, water shortages, illness and declining household incomes were also increasing child labour and disrupting education.

Save the Children said Afghanistan’s population has grown by up to 12% since September 2023, while more than six million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan amid tighter policies affecting Afghan nationals.

The organisation, which has worked in Afghanistan since 1976, currently operates programmes in nine provinces and works with partners in another 11.

Last year, it reached more than two million people, including nearly 5,000 children treated for severe acute malnutrition and 1.4 million people who received outpatient consultations.