Saudi Gazette report TAIF – The number of patients on the waiting list for organ donations is five times the available donors, chairwoman of an organ donation awareness campaign Dr. Haifa Misfir Al-Qithami was quoted as saying in a section of the Arabic press. There are more than 14,000 patients on the waiting list for kidney transplants, nearly 500 patients annually need heart transplants, 700 patients await liver transplants annually and 500 patients await lung transplants annually, and patients awaiting pancreas transplants have reached 500. This means there is a dire need for creating awareness about organ donation in society, said Al-Qithami, who is heading the campaign called ‘A life from my organ.' She said a big number of new patients who are added annually to these lists die while waiting for organ donation. Despite the dialysis treatment, the percentage of deaths among kidney failure patients has reached 11.6, that is 1,600 deaths annually. Also, 3,600 new patients suffering from end stage renal failure enter annually in dialysis treatment. Nearly half of these patients, 47 percent, are added to the waiting list for kidney transplants. Their ages range between 26 and 55 years. Till the end of 2012, some 7,822 kidney transplants were performed in the Kingdom. Only one third were from donors after death. The remaining were from living people.
The same time, some 1,240 liver transplants were performed in the Kingdom. Sixty percent of these were from donors after death. Some 569 heart valve transplant and 94 lung transplant operations were also performed. Al-Qithami said that 70 to 90 percent families refuse to donate organs after the brain death of their relatives. She said that because of these reasons they are carrying out the awareness campaign on organ donation in Jeddah and Makkah, and later in Taif. The campaign will continue for several days. It is targeting all segments of society, including the families of brain dead people. The campaign will focus on the religious, social, health and economic aspects related to organ donation. It will be carried out twice or thrice annually so as to create awareness in the public. Al-Qithami said they will distribute leaflets containing all the information and religious edicts (fatwas) regarding organ donation. They will also provide the public with organ donation cards and gifts. The campaign will start in Makkah at the beginning of next month in Makkah Mall and in Taif on June 3 in Qalb Al-Taif Mall.
