http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=Mzc3Njc5ODAzNQ==Culture limits lifesaving organ donor numbers
By Lisa Conrad
"Why bury perfectly good tissue and organs when they could be used to save someone's life instead?" asked Dr Mustafa Al-Mousawi, the head of the Ministry of Health's (MoH) Organ Procurement Unit. Speaking to the Kuwait Times yesterday, the senior MoH official explained that whilst Kuwait has relatively high rates of organ donation when compared with other Middle Eastern countries, it's still well behind the US and Europe in this area.
We have a slightly higher rate [in Kuwait] because we've been organizing ourselves since 1996," Dr. Al-Mousawi revealed. "We started a course, with the help of Eurotransplant, which made a great deal of difference, but there's still a lot of work to be done.
Around 25 percent of the families of deceased individuals in Kuwait give their consent when contacted to donate their loved ones' organs to save others' lives. While this is a higher-than-average figure for the Middle East, however, it's still some way behind the same figure in Europe, which currently stands at 75%, so there's still progress to be made in this area, explained Dr. Al-Mousawi.
The senior MoH official attributed the differing attitudes towards organ donation between the Middle East and Europe to culture, "Many from Islamic backgrounds feel that it is wrong to alter the body of the deceased. However, we asked religious leaders about this issue specifically and they said that because you are saving people's lives as a result, it is permissible.
The doctor also noted, "There is a verse in the Quran that says that saving one person's life is like saving a whole nation." The distinguished medic indicated that the question of the acceptability of altering or performing any form of surgery on a deceased person's body is an age-old one: "Religious leaders, many centuries ago, asked this same question. For example they asked if it would be permissible to remove a valuable jewel from the stomach of the deceased. They decided that it would be acceptable
if the jewel was the property of another.
He also referred to the example of removing a living baby from its mother's stomach if the mother has passed away before giving birth, asking, "Would it not be acceptable to operate on the body of the deceased, in order to save the life of another person?" Culture appeared to greatly influence how interviewees decided whether or not they would consent to a family member's organs being donated to save another person's life: "It is not right. We should leave like we came," said Ayesha, a 56-year-old mother o
f four. She added, however, "If one of my sons was in need of an organ I would hope that he would receive one from someone who had been a donor. Maybe it's something we judge from afar without thinking about the further consequences.
Sara, a 22-year-old Kuwaiti student, insisted, however, that it's not culture which prevents people from donating or approving the donation of deceased family members' organs, but something far more basic and self-centered: "Many just don't like the idea of it," she said. "It bothers them, and they don't want to consider why it's important and what a difference it would make. I think it's spoilt and selfish, to refuse. Saving a life is one of the best things we can do as humans, even if it is something we
do in death.
Organ donation would certainly reduce waiting lists for organs, but would also eradicate many disturbing practices that some people awaiting transplants resort to out of desperation. According to Dr Al Mousawi, many people from the Middle East travel to poorer countries, such as India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Egypt in search of organs for sale, despite the legal and ethical questions such behavior raises.
In the past, there were also been numerous instances in Kuwait of unrelated donors suddenly offering a kidney to a "friend" awaiting a transplant. Upon further investigation, however, the donor was often discovered to be selling the organ in question to the other individual and to have no other relationship to them. Dr Al Mousawi added, however, that this problem was successfully combated with further regulation and mandatory scrutiny of any case in which an unrelated donor comes forward to announce a wis
h to donate.
The rate of organ donation and consent rises and falls in line with how active transplant coordinators are, explained the doctor, adding that this was one of the driving reasons behind the foundation of the Kuwait Organ Procurement Unit, which was established to ensure that coordinators could be more proactive in helping to save the lives of those awaiting transplants. The coordinators are doctors at local hospitals, with every local hospital having at least one doctor working with the unit.
This is a particularly efficient system because in any case in which brain death is confirmed in a patient, the doctor is immediately able to inform the unit and liaise with families to request consent. Dr. Al-Mousawi added, however, that speaking with family members about this issue at such a sensitive and emotionally traumatic time for them can be difficult, more especially if they're abroad when the deceased passes away.
Dr. Al-Mousawi suggested that the current reliance on the consent of family members and the additional time taken by this could be eradicated if individuals chose to opt in to an organ donation system whilst alive. There is the option to do this in Kuwait already, the doctor added, but the take-up rate is extremely low, with only 6,000 people in total in the country offering to donate their organs once they pass away. In order to increase the number of donors, the Kuwait Transplant Society has now made it
possible for people to register online and carry a donor card with them.
Dr. Al-Mousawi further insisted that it's vital that expatriates awaiting lifesaving organ transplants receive more equality, both in treatment and on the organ donor waiting lists, more especially if they have offered to be donors themselves previously: "We can't ask expatriates to opt in as donors when they are not treated equally on waiting lists," he asserted. "There must be equality if we want to encourage people in Kuwait, expatriates and citizens alike, to become donors. For example, an expatriate d
onor should be eligible for free dialysis should they have kidney failure, to further acknowledge what they have done.
Dr. Al-Mousawi suggested that the ideal situation and the one which would help save most lives amongst those awaiting transplants would be if donor status were printed on driving licenses. To improve the current situation in Kuwait, said the senior MoH official, there must be continuous support from the government. However, culture, regulation and legislation must all be addressed in order to effectively remedy this situation in the long term. The result, he concluded would certainly be worthwhile: "People
on transplant waiting lists die unnecessarily," he said. "If everyone donated their organs, then the problem would be eradicated.
Topic: Kuwait: Culture limits lifesaving organ donor numbers (Read 5261 times)