Events - ISN Middle East Regional Board Webinar: Activating Deceased Donor Transplant Program in the Middle East

Initiating a deceased-donor organ donation program is widely considered an essential component of a comprehensive approach to respond to the ever increasing organ shortage worldwide. Nevertheless, transplantation in the Middle East is shaped by the prevailing religious, socioeconomic, and health indicators in the different countries. Living-donor organ donation is the most widely practiced type of donation in the Middle East. However, some countries, including Iran, Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates have active deceased-donor programs. Ignorance appears to be a major limiting factor inhibiting the initiation of a deceased-donor program in many middle Eastern countries, as in many other developing countries. The indifferent attitude of health care professionals has also been identified as a limiting factor to initiating a deceased-donor program in certain countries, a fact that has also been pointed out in other developing countries. Other obstacles to initiating a deceased-donor organ donation in the Middle East include, among others, limited resources; low health spending; poorly developed infrastructures; inadequate dialysis programs; few organized teams of transplant surgeons and nephrologists; organ-selling practices; the lack of public awareness, education, and motivation for organ donation; and the issue of the definition of brain death. However, some transplant professionals in the Middle East argue that the striking differences in the rates of deceased-donor organ donation between countries are only partially explained by the aforementioned factors and that other cultural and social reasons could also be among the obstacles. One obstacle to deceased-donor organ donation that is less well appreciated is religious concerns. Most major faiths and religions in the Middle East encourage donation. However, there is also skepticism among some scholars of Islam, often relating to the concept of brain death and/or the processes surrounding death itself. “Whosoever saves the life of one person, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind.” This Qur’an passage highlights a key principle of Islam, according to which organ transplant is considered entirely in keeping with the faith. 

More than 4 decades after the first successful renal transplant in the Middle East, patients still must rely on living donors only in many Middle East Countries. Every effort must be made to initiate a deceased-donor program to lessen the burden on living donors and to enable a national self-sufficiency not only in kidney transplant but in transplant of all other organs. The awareness of the public, the medical community, and the government about the importance of initiating a deceased-donor program is indispensable to overcome the current threats.