DHAKA, Jan 21, 2020 (BSS) – The country’s physicians are awaiting donors
to begin kidney transplant from the brain-dead to partially meet the demand
of kidney transplant.
“We are ready to go for the first-ever kidney transplant from the brain-
dead but finding donors remains a big challenge to make the historic landmark
of Bangladesh health sector,” said Society of Organ Transplantation (SOT)
President professor Dr Harun-Ur Rashid at a press conference at Jatiya Press
Club here today.
Kidney transplantation from living donor began in Bangladesh in 1982 but
last year the kidney specialists got prepared to do it from the brain-dead
that had started in neighboring India and Sri Lanka apart from developed
countries much earlier.
The government last year amended the organ donation law allowing
collection of organs from the brain-dead with the consent from the relatives
which is still a major challenge.
“We had taken all preparation to do the first kidney transplantation from
brain-dead last year, but we failed to get consent from family members of a
single brain-dead patient … this year we again got prepared and are looking
for donors,” Prof Harun said and urged all to give consent for donating
kidney if their dear ones are declared brain-dead by the physicians. Society
of Organ Transplantation (SOT), Kidney Foundation Hospital and Bangladesh
Renal Association jointly have taken the initiative to hunt donors.
Brain death is the irreversible loss of brain function and has been
accepted as death by the WHO guideline which supports Bangladesh’s organ
donation law, according to the SOT.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Vice-Chancellor
Professor Dr Kanak Kanti Borua, Pro-VC Prof Dr Rafiqul Alam, Urology and
Transplant Foundation Bangladesh president Prof M A Salam and SOT general
secretary Professor Habibur Rahman Dulal also spoke, among others, while Dr
ASM Tanim Anwar of Dhaka Medical College Hospital Nephrology department
moderated.
Prof Harun said every year two crore people are affected by various
kidney diseases while 40,000 patients suffer kidney failure. “Among the
40,000 kidney failure patients, only 10,000 receive dialysis and 30,000 do
not get any treatment.
The annual demand for the kidney transplantation in Bangladesh right now
is estimated to be 5000, but on average, only 120 people can manage kidneys
from their relatives to have a transplant.
In Dhaka, Prof Harun said there are 500 beds at ICUs in different
hospitals where 20 to 25 patients are declared brain-dead every day. “Twenty-
five percent of the brain-dead are usually eligible for kidney
transplantation,” he added.
He said 60 percent of patients are getting better life after kidney
transplantation from brain-dead in the developed countries where people of
our country hesitate to donate organs because of their emotion, values and
religious prejudice.
Noting that religious prejudice is the major barrier, Prof Harun said
there is no bar from our religion to donate organ while 60 percent of kidney
transplantation are taking place from brain-dead in Saudi Arabia while 40
percent in Iran.
He said they have a plan to involve Islamic Foundation and imams of the
country to make it clear to the common people that Islam doesn’t forbid organ
donation.
Prof Borua urged everyone to step forward so that the physicians can
perform the first ever kidney transplant from brain-dead this year to mark
the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibiur
Rahman.
Saying that BSMMU is ready to conduct the surgery, the vice-chancellor
said Bangladesh physicians are quite capable to transplant organs from the
brain-dead and they don’t need any assistance from other countries.
A national committee on Deceased Donor Organ was formed recently headed
by Prof Barua and the kidney transplant surgery can done in Dhaka Medical
College Hospital, Bangladesh Kidney Foundation, BIRDEM and Combined Military
Hospital (CMH) apart from BSMMU depending on the availability of donor, SOT
sources said.