The Ministry of Higher Education has approached all medical colleges and university hospitals in the country to register brain dead patients in their intensive care units for the data to be used by the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation (SCOT).
The center will approach the relatives of the patients to ask them to donate their functional organs. These organs will then be transported to various health care establishments in the country.
The ministry source cited by a local newspaper said hospitals are also required to send brain death reports to the transplantation center, which is administratively and financially independent. The organ donation and transplantation program obliges university rectors to establish units for overseeing the removal and transplantation of organs. They also have to hold courses, education and training programs and conferences on organ failure and transplantation and donation, including public awareness programs.
He said medical colleges and hospitals will start issuing a scientific journal specialized in organ transplantation, carry out scientific research domestically and internationally and file annual reports on the development of a performance indicator for organ transplantation. The standards and criteria for organ donation are based on Islamic law.
The newspaper reported that many people confuse brain dead patients with those who are comatose. This is one of the major hurdles in the organ transplantation program. In addition, many people are afraid of an incorrect medical diagnosis when they are told that a loved one is brain dead. Another difficulty is the lack of awareness created by the media to promote a culture of organ donation.
Scientific reports show a patient's heart and other organs function after brain death for a short period depending on life support devices. Donation is therefore an essential source for organ transplantation especially for kidneys, hearts, livers, lungs and pancreases.
Statistics show that donations by living donors and brain-dead patients have increased over the past few years in Saudi Arabia. Transplantation surgeries have also risen. About 550 operations are carried out annually in the country, while 1,000 patients need organ transplants annually. About 2,200 patients with kidney failure go onto the waiting list with SCOT every year. SCOT's waiting list now includes 13,000 patients including 5,000 urgent cases.
Arab News
