More organ donors required: Health Minister
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Stating that there are still very few organ donors in Oman, Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid Al Sa’eedi, Minister of Health, attributed this to misunderstandings within the community. In order to combat this lack of awareness, he urged doctors to spread awareness and for people to donate their organs.
Al Sa’eedi said to Al Shabiba, Times of Oman’s sister newspaper, “Awareness is very important, as there is nothing that can stop you from donating. Religiously, we have fatwas that encourage organ donation. Organ tissue donation is firstly a humanitarian necessity and then a national duty. Thirdly, it can save the life of a relative, as a donor must be the patient’s relative.”
Al Sa’eedi added, “The programme for kidney transplants began in the Sultanate years ago and still continues. As for liver transplants, we used to send patients outside Oman but began this service successfully in the Sultanate mid last year.”
According to the minister, there is only a tiny danger to a kidney or liver donor, as the size and function of the liver returns to normal in less than four weeks in most cases. Scientifically, donors have nothing to fear, he said.
He added, “I call on all of my colleagues in the health sector to clarify this information to others, as well as to inform them about the benefits that a donor can enjoy. Lastly, organ donation is a noble humanitarian endeavour and we hope to see a large number of donors, especially for kidneys and parts of the liver.”
A study by Jawad Al Lawati of the Ministry of Health, Mohammad Budruddin of Tawam Hospital, among others, in 2010, stated, “Thirty-eight per cent [of the total persons asked] and 32 per cent of Omani individuals had a family member or a friend with kidney disease or a renal (kidney) transplantation, respectively. Only 42 per cent of respondents knew that renal transplantation was done in Oman.” A statement by the World Health Organisation read, “If we are prepared to receive an organ transplant should we need one, then we should be ready to donate too.”
Kidney donation by well-selected living donors with good health coverage carries negligible risks. This can only be ensured through rigorous selection procedures, a careful surgical nephrectomy and the follow-up of the donor to ensure optimal management of untoward consequences.