Kuwait is top provider of transplant organs

Kuwait is top in the Middle East in securing transplant organs and tissue through post-death donation, Head of Ministry of Health Organ Procurement Unit and Transplant Society (KTP) Deputy Chairman Mustafa Al-Mousawi said on Monday. In remarks to KUNA, he added that there are six organ donors for every million people in Kuwait, followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia. The source for 40 percent kidneys transplanted at Hamed Al-Essa Center for Organ Transplant in 2012 was brain deaths at Kuwaiti hospitals, which is a great increase from previous years, he added. The Organ Procurement Unit succeeded in doubling the number from 9 to 18 donors in this category, he pointed out. The specialist said that a total of 36 kidneys, 31 corneas, and two pancreases from said source were transplanted in Kuwait, while 13 livers, 10 lungs, and eight hearts were transplanted in Saudi Arabia within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) transplant cooperation network. The Ministry of Health's Organ Procurement Unit had recently hosted a workshop for doctors, intensive care nurses, and organ procurement coordinators. "The workshop is essential to evaluate the unit's work in 2012, and to consider feasible means to bring up the number of donors in this category to 36 donors till end of 2013. The ultimate aim is to reach the European standard of 16 donators in a million people," Al-Mousawi added. Use of organs and tissue from the deceased in transplants in Kuwait began in 1996. To date, the total is 345 kidney transplants for kidney failure patients and 151 cornea transplants. As part of the GCC organ exchange program, the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation received 74 livers from Kuwait, besides a large number of lungs and hearts. Kuwaiti patients without possible donors among relatives meanwhile benefited from livers provided by the Saudi institution.