ISLAMABAD: While there is an estimated annual addition of 25,000 to 50,000 new end-stage kidney disease patients in the country requiring dialysis or transplantation and nearly 2.5 million patients at some point, requiring liver transplantation, Pakistan has lagged glaringly behind in deceased organ/cadaveric donation.

In a statement released in connection with World Organ Donation Day,Head of Nephrology at Maroof International Hospital Prof K.H. Mujtaba Quadri gave a call for a ‘National deceased organ donation movement’.

He said: “Through the Human Organ Transplant Authority (HOTA) Act, most of the religious and ethical concerns have been sorted out in Pakistan, paving the way for live related and cadaveric organ donation in the country nearly two decades back.”

“Live unrelated kidney transplants through paired organ donation or first degree voluntary donors are also being done at various centres. Dubious cases of unregulated transplants continue because of loopholes in legislation or lack of implementation of laws and lack of adherence to WHO guidelines or the widely recognised Istanbul declaration against organ trade,” he said.

Another nephrologist Dr Mohammad Irfan suggested curbing dubious organ sale practices strictly so that this itself would cease to be a competing risk for cadaveric transplants.

“We must incentivise organ donation through education via print and electronic media, national recognition, advocacy and widespread organ donation consents linked with our national identity cards and stored in Nadra databases,” he said.

It is worth mentioning that recently Rawalpindi police uncovered an illegal organ transplant gang in the jurisdiction of Rawat police station where a secret operation theatre was established inside a bungalow. Police also rescued a man who was found with stitches after a surgical procedure. It was revealed that the person was lured to the location with a false job offer and was later sedated. After regaining consciousness, he discovered that his kidney had been removed.

Dr Irfan suggested that all healthcare facilities should be encouraged to hold regular community awareness seminars on deceased organ donation and develop standardised brain death protocols in their intensive care units and to contact regional transplantation centres after obtaining informed consent from the next of kin.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2025