President of the Kuwait Society for Organ Transplantation and Head of the Organ Provision Unit at the Hamed Al-Essa Center for Organ Transplantation Dr. Mustafa Al-Mousawi stated that the number of organ donation card holders is currently 17,000, reports Aljarida daily. In a press statement, Dr. Al-Mousawi said the “Save a Life” campaign will be organized in February to increase the number of card holders by double, save patients suffering from organ failure, and register for organ donation cards. He said he hopes the campaign would contribute to spreading the culture of donation, through the participation of activists and influencers on social media.
Dr. Al-Mousawi revealed that an increase in the number of kidney transplants from brain-dead donors was witnessed in 2022 for the first time since the establishment of the organ transplantation program in Kuwait, as compared to living donors at the Hamed Al-Issa Center for Organ Transplantation. He explained that the center performs about 100 kidney transplants in Kuwait annually.
In the past, 30 percent of the organs came from dead individuals and 70 percent from those living. During recent years, the kidneys taken from the deceased have increased to reach 40 percent, then to 50 percent, and for the first time last year, the number grew to 51 percent of dead donors and 49 percent of those who are alive.
About 80 organs were removed from 32 brain-dead donors last year at the Hamed Al-Issa Center for Organ Transplantation, including 62 kidneys, 15 livers, one pancreas, a heart and a lung. Dr. Al-Mousawi said, “What is new in the kidney transplant program is the increase in the number of transplant operations for patients who suffer from obesity and overweight, in addition to the use of more than one artery when transplanting.”
Source- Arab Times.
