(MENAFN- Arab Times) KUWAIT CITY Dec 6: Kuwait Society for Organ Transplantation concluded an organ donation campaign aimed at the Indian community in collaboration with Father Davis Chiramel the Chairman of the Kidney Federation of India and lasted for a week. A press conference held at the society's headquarters marked the end of the campaign where Father Chiramel presented more than 2000 organ donation cards from the Indian community in Kuwait.
At the beginning of the press conference Dr Mustafa Al-Moussawi Chairman of the Kuwait Society for Organ Transplantation highlighted the insufficiency of organs available for transplant across the world and within Kuwait in particular.
He cited statistics from the World Health Organization showing approximately one hundred thousand transplants performed worldwide each year whilst a million are required; clearly showing that current capacity does not exceed 10% of the actual need for organ transplants.
Dr Al-Moussawi explained that this fallout is due to lack of organs available for transplant in all countries of the world adding that in Kuwait there is a need for 160 transplant operations per year while the current capacity ranges from 70 to 100 per year due to the lack of adequate availability of kidney donors.
Program
Dr Al-Moussawi stressed the focus that the Minister of Health has had to initiate a program for the cultivation of liver and heart tissues over the next year and the preparation of a list of patients in need of such operations in addition to making contact with overseas specialist to assist in the creation of this program.
Such programs depend on cultivating organs from the deceased where statistics indicate that annually 150 people pass away from head strokes in Kuwait whilst those deaths where organs and tissues are obtained for transplant range between 12 to 20 cases annually only. During the current year Kuwait witnessed recovery from 24 cases propelling Kuwait to be the frist Arab and only second in the Middle East after Iran relative to the total population.
Thus to increase the number of donors it is very important to communicate with citizens and residents of Kuwait urging them to donate organs after death thus the importance of Father Chiramel's visit where the Indian community is the largest expatriate community in the country. Dr Al-Moussawi highlighted Father Chiramel contributions to the organ transplant practice underlining his fame after donating one of his kidneys to a patient several years ago; after which he established an institution in India touring different regions of the country urging people to donate organs after death. His activity led to a significant increase in the number of donors in his area of southern India.
Father Chiramel also travelled to a number of European countries the United States of America and other Middle Eastern countries including Kuwait to urge the Indian community to donate organs after death and that he will visit to Qatar the United Arab Emirates.
During his visit to Kuwait he met with large number of people from the Indian community where more than 2000 organ donation cards were registered. Dr Al-Moussawi praised Father Chiramel for his efforts that will benefit both Kuwaiti and resident patients For his part Father Chiramel expressed his delight to visit Kuwait describing it as one of the best countries in the field of organ transplant services free for Kuwaitis and expatriates.
Father Chiramel stressed the importance that even if people differ in religion and ethnicity they are brothers in humanity and all of them are from one mother Eve.
He added that it is shameful that we offer our organs and tissues to make food for worms rather than it to needy patients. During his speech Father Chiramel said that he intends to return to Kuwait again aiming for more than fifty thousand donation cards from the Indian community during the next year establishing a special committee to follow up with this goal. For coordination please call Mr Rued Aziz 55153417
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.