KARACHI, Nov 11: Despite the fact that thousands of lives could be saved in Pakistan through organ transplantations, particularly kidney transplantation, the country is yet to have the brain death law that may pave way for cadaver organ donation and save several precious lives.

Organ transplantation has grown in the Asian countries despite many drawbacks and economic difficulties.

It has moved beyond the kidneys and now liver, heart and lungs transplantation are taking place. But in our country the available expertise and infrastructure presently caters only to kidney transplantation and the beneficiaries are the patients who can afford and the donors who need the funds.

Organ transplantation began with kidneys in the USA in 1952 and gradually the technology improved giving better survival of the patient and the graft. Organ shortage had been the concern of every country, which led to the legalization of cadaver organ utilization.

The brain death law has been implemented in most countries of the world and in all the Muslim countries except Pakistan, which not only faces organ deficit but also has a higher rate of commercialization and sale of kidneys.

In our country the bill was submitted some ten years back and still awaits presentation in the Senate.

In Pakistan, the total number of solid organs required annually is 25,000 per year of which kidneys amount to more than 100 per million population, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) sources said in a statement.

There were also said to be 120 dialysis centres in the country, most of them are in the private sector and 20 transplant centres with 19 operating on a commercial basis.

The SIUT is the only public sector tertiary care centre where live related kidney transplantation is carried out free of cost. The privately operated transplant centres cater more to the patients coming from foreign countries, as the cost of kidneys and surgery is enormous.

Pakistani patients do not get the benefit, as there is no brain death law. Most first world countries have faced similar situations to some extent, but they very soon realized where lay the solution. The cadaver law was implemented, which made the transplant surgery ethical and just. The neighbouring country where kidney sales were thriving brought in the law, which put a curb to this unjust practice.

To meet this challenge of organ deficit, the Asian Society of Transplantation, holds a conference every three years in different Asian countries. This is a forum for discussion and exchange of views between the experts from all over the world.

This year Pakistan has been selected as the venue country and the SIUT will play the host. The ninth congress of the Asian Society of Transplantation will be held from Nov 29 to Dec 2, during which experts from 24 countries shall speak.—APP