By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: A facility for research and training related to organ donation is to open in Doha later this year, said a senior official yesterday.
Doha Academy for Organ Donation, an initiative of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is under the planning phase and would start functioning after summer, said Dr Abdullah Al Ansari, Deputy Chief, Medical, Academic and Research Affairs for Surgical Services, HMC.
The world-class academy will conduct research based on organ donation and train professionals.
“The academy will be a hub in Doha for training, research and education… It will bring together the winners in organ donation,” said Dr Al Ansari. “It will initially serve Qatar’s needs and then help Third World countries,” he told a press conference.
Qatar Organ Donation Centre (Hiba) has an exchange programme with Oxford University. It is presently implemented to enhance knowledge and experience of professionals involved in organ donation and transplant in Qatar. The organ donation and transplant system is built on the principles of equality in access to transplant services, distribution of donated organs and high ethical standards of healthcare services. The discrimination-free system has, in a short time, gained international recognition and support.
HMC’s organ donation and transplant team has completed seven life-saving surgeries comprising three liver and four kidney transplants in February, said Dr Riadh Fadhil, Director, Hiba.
“We have come a long way since the launch of the organ donation programme. In the first year, we would get very few deceased donation consents. However, with support and commitment of HMC leaders and staff, deceased and living-related donations have increased which is testament to the programme’s success. This change of attitude proves that we have succeeded in developing people’s trust,” he said.
The number of living and decease organ donors has increased, bringing down the waiting list for transplants.
Within three years, the Organ Donation Registry has grown, with the number of donors increasing from 5,000 to 43,000 spanning 108 nationalities, including Qataris. The number of patients waiting for kidney transplants has decreased to 81, and only eight are waiting liver transplants. “Our aim is to become self-sufficient with organ donors, to have more organs ready than the required number. Also we would reach a zero waiting list soon,” said Dr Fadhil.
The Peninsula
