Some 14,000 people in the country are waiting for organ transplants; 7 to 10 of whom die every day due to the lack of a transplanted organ, Mehdi Shadnoush, head of the transplant management and treatment center of the Ministry of Health, said.

In Iran, the organ donation rate reached 14.7 two years ago, which was the highest rate in the long run. But the ideal point is the organ donation of 26 brain dead patients per a million population, he noted.

According to the Iranian Society of Organ Donation, there are two types of death in the medical world; Heart death (common death), which accounts for 99 percent of deaths worldwide, and brain death, which accounts for one percent of deaths.

Organ donation is an altruistic decision that can be made by the family members after brain death. Although many organizations and medical centers have implemented various interventions and training courses to increase satisfaction with organ donation, a lack of organs for donation still is a serious problem in the world.

In Iran, about 5,000 to 8,000 people die each year from brain death, half of whom, or about 3,000, have transplanted organs. Unfortunately, 1,000 families, or one-third, are satisfied with organ donation.

Top in Asia

Shadnoush announced in June 2020 that Iran was ranked first for organ donation among Asian countries.

“The country’s organ donation rate is 14.34 per one million people,” he noted.

In February 2019, Shadnoush said that the organ donation rate has increased by 60 times over the past 18 years. Although Iran ranks 26 in organ donation in the world.

Organ donation of brain death has reached up to 60 percent, he said, lamenting that the country ranks 21st regarding organ donation from brain dead patients in the world while ranking 14th regarding organ transplant from alive patients.

According to the figures revealed by the International Registry in Organ Donation and Transplantation (IRODaT), Spain leads the world in organ donation.

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The history of organ and tissue transplantation in Iran dates back to 1935 when a patient’s cornea was transplanted in one of Tehran’s hospitals. Kidney transplantation first took place in 1968 and transplantation of other organs and tissues gradually took place in the 1970s and 1980s.

According to the Iranian Society of Organ Donation, there are two types of death in the medical world; Heart death (common death), which accounts for 99 percent of deaths worldwide, and brain death, which accounts for one percent of deaths.

Organ donation is an altruistic decision that can be made by the family members after brain death. Although many organizations and medical centers have implemented various interventions and training courses to increase satisfaction with organ donation, a lack of organs for donation still is a serious problem in the world.

As a result, thousands of patients on waiting lists for transplantation die every year.

In Iran, about 5,000 to 8,000 people die each year from brain death, half of whom, or about 3,000, have transplanted organs. Unfortunately, 1,000 families, or one-third, are satisfied with organ donation.

In Iran, there are over 25,000 patients in need of transplants on the waiting lists of various organs, but unfortunately, 7 to 10 of them die every day due to the lack of a transplanted organ, accounting for over 3,000 a year.

Considering that 7,000 transplant recipients are buried annually due to family dissatisfaction and 3,000 needy patients die, on the other hand, it can be considered that if only half of the buried organs could save the lives of all.

What discourages people to save the lives of others?

But what really pushes away the people from donating their deceased beloved’s organ and save the lives of many?

It is a touchy question, as some experts believe that there is a large disparity between the number of people who only claim that they support organ donation and the number of people who actually register for organ donation cards.

So, the factor keeping people from ultimately donating an organ is something that academics, doctors, and organ donation activists are trying to figure out.

Although, for long we have heard that organ donation is a generous life-saving ‘gift’, some are still unnerved by and skeptical about the donation process.

Making positive decisions about organ donation would likely require resolving tensions between respecting the family, community, and religious values versus their individual autonomy.

Such resistance may be explained by the lack of awareness about transplantation within their communities, dominant influences of older family members, religious myths and misconceptions, fear of premature death, concerns about bodily disfigurement, distrust of the medical system, and concerns of racial discrimination in organ allocation.

Providing targeted education about the process and benefits of organ donation within the community may clarify ambiguities surrounding cultural and religious-based views on organ donation, reduce taboos and suspicion towards donation, and in turn, lead to increased organ donation rates.

Understanding the meaning of neurological death is also another factor helping families to consent for organ donation of their brain-dead member of the family.

Neurological death is defined as ‘irreversible loss of capacity for consciousness combined with the irreversible loss of the capacity to breath’. It is a prerequisite for donation, although to families the body still appears to have life.

Making families of the deceased aware of the fact that they can find a sense of meaning and creating a positive outcome of their tragic loss by organ donation is a must to promote the culture. Families should have a desire to help others and apprehend that the deceased’s legacy will continue to exist through donation.

A lack of trust in the healthcare profession is also a major barrier to deceased organ donation; fears are mainly that doctors would not try as hard to save the life of an organ donor with physicians holding the power to decide whose life to save, as well as the belief that the wealthy are more likely to obtain a transplant.

Iran tops Asian countries in organ donation

Mehdi Shadnoush, head of the Health Ministry’s center for transplantation and disease management, announced in June 2020 that Iran is ranked first for organ donation among Asian countries.

“The country’s organ donation rate is 14.34 per one million people,” he noted.

In February 2019, Shadnoush said that the organ donation rate has increased by 60 times over the past 18 years. Although Iran ranks 26 in organ donation in the world.

Organ donation of brain death has reached up to 60 percent, he said, lamenting that the country ranks 21st regarding organ donation from brain dead patients in the world while ranking 14th regarding organ transplant from alive patients.

According to the figures revealed by the International Registry in Organ Donation and Transplantation (IRODaT), Spain leads the world in organ donation.

The post The country celebrates “National Organ Donation Day” appeared first on Iran News Daily.

“We have already conducted research on transportation infrastructures between provinces and it has been successfully tested,” he explained.

The golden time is an important factor in organ transplantation, he added.

The infrastructure is provided by the center as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran (abbreviated as NAJA), Iran’s National Emergency Medical Service Organization, he noted.

“Through registration system, we will witness more organ transplantation in the near future,” he said.

The registration system project is implemented with the support of the health ministry, the National Cartographic Center, the Iranian Space Agency, Iran Air Force, NAJA as well as medical sciences universities, he explained.

Usage of motorcycle ambulances, air ambulance, ambulance car, and even airliners are assessed in software, which can find the fastest way that is needed to ship an organ, he concluded.

 The organ donation rate in Iran

In February, the transplantation and treatment of diseases department at the health ministry announced that the organ donation rate has increased by 60 times over the past 18 years.

Although Iran ranks 26 in organ donation in the world, it can claim better ranks given some plans being implemented in this regard.

If Iran moves ahead with the current trend, it will achieve 45 percent increase by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 2025-March 2026).

Organ donation, how and why?

Organ transplantation is one of the great advances in modern medicine, but unfortunately, the need for organ donors is much greater than the number of people who actually donate.

According to the figures revealed by the International Registry in Organ Donation and Transplantation (IRODaT) Spain leads the world in organ donation.

Figures published for 2017 reveal that 2,183 people in Spain became organ donors after they died. That’s 46.9 per million people in the population (pmp) – a standard way of measuring the rate of donation in a country, The Independent reported in July 2018.

According to the data published on IRODaT by the end of 2017 Iran’s per million population of actual deceased organ donors was 11.43. In 1996 Iran’s per million population of actual deceased organ donors was 0.1, which compared to the current pmp shows a great increase.

Some 5,000 people die of brain death annually in Iran, out of 3,000 brain deaths reported last year being qualified to be organ donors, only 926 donated their organs.

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