LAHORE: The Punjab Human Organ Transplant Authority (P-HOTA) has approved a scheme to establish ‘organ procurement cells’ in all the major government sector teaching institutes of the province to promote organ donations from brain-dead patients.

The decision was taken in a meeting which was called exclusively to create a data bank of human organs to help patients awaiting life-saving surgeries.

“Brain death occurs when all the brain functions stop working and an irreversible brain damage takes place”, a senior medical expert comments.

He says a majority of brain-death cases are caused by brain tumour, road accidents or a fall from high altitude. Such accidents happen suddenly and traumatise the family members of the victims who are usually put on ventilator with no hope of survival, he says.

Such unit made functional at PINS

“The scheme will help create a data bank of organs, including liver, kidney and cornea for the patients in need of these, mostly to get a second lease of life after transplantation,” he says.

Another official privy to the development said that during the meeting the authority was informed that a number of patients were dying due to non-availability of the organs, as some amendments had been made in the laws to stop illegal trade of organs.

The first organ procurement cell established at the Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences (PINS) Lahore has been made fully functional, he said. The cell will identify the brain-dead patients, contact their family members and convince them to donate organs, he added.

The official said the PINS had been affiliated with the Pakistan Kidney & Liver Institute (PKLI) and the Shaikh Zayed Hospital (SZH) Lahore -- the two state-run teaching institutes where most of the organ transplants are performed.

He said the P-HOTA had also enlisted other mega teaching hospitals having elaborate intensive care unit (ICU) setups and were admitting potential brain-dead patients.

He said the senior medics from the PKLI and SZH would assist the PINS doctors to arrange donations from brain-dead patients. Help of religious scholars would also be sought to educate the families of such patients on the issue, he added.

He said, the ultimate decision regarding organ donation has to be taken by the families of the brain-dead patients.

He said similar schemes were already being implemented in many other countries where the donation of organs had been a matter of serious concern.

He said the scheme, if implemented in letter and spirit, would help discourage the illegal organ trade as recently many rackets had been unearthed in Punjab exposing doctors illegally carrying out organ transplants. The HOTA had also lodged cases against them, he added.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2022