Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 18, 2014 News
While providing kidney transplant is a step in the right direction, officials attached to the Kidney Foundation of Guyana are convinced that such a move must be backed by legislation.
There have been recent reports that the Ministry of Health, the Georgetown Public Hospital and the Doobay Renal Centre are seeking to collaborate with overseas medical entities to offer free kidney transplants to citizens sometime in the not too distant future.
Already kidney transplants are being offered at the Balwant Singh Hospital at a cost to patients. These operations are spearheaded by United States-based Kidney Surgeon, Dr Rahul Jindal with funding from Philanthropist, George Subraj.
But according to Secretary/Treasurer of the Kidney Foundation, Dr. Claudette Harry, “…doing kidney transplants…is not as easy, I think because apart from doing the transplant, the post operative care is very important (and) unless we have the facilities to do that and we have the people properly trained to do that then we can run into trouble.”
She highlighted the importance of legislation being put in place to prevent people from even attempting to sell their kidneys in order to facilitate transplants.
There have been rumours that such daunting activities have already occurred in Guyana, she said. “That is why we need to stop that because the person who is giving the kidney, I suppose, is at some risk, because although you don’t need both kidneys and can live on one, are we taking enough care to make sure that the person who is receiving the kidney is compatible?”
She said that while it is good to aim towards doing kidney transplants, “I think we also have to be cautious and careful about how we go into it and make sure that we have everything in place before we promote it.”
Last year Head of Nephrology at the McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, Dr. Alistair Ingram, noted that since commercialisation of transplantation is forbidden globally, a number of transplant societies around the world have become wary of such activities.
Dr. Ingram who has been offering consultancy service at the Doobay Renal Centre explained that “commercialisation inevitably leads to donation (of organs) by poor people who are usually not compensated anywhere near the amount of money that exchange hands…They get no follow-up (care) afterwards and often have poor health outcomes as a consequence.”
He added that the commercialisation can in fact encourage criminality in the form of kidnapping and organ trafficking and therefore has the potential of lending to a “very slippery slope and certainly not one that you want to go down.”
According to Chairman of the Kidney Foundation, Major General Joseph Singh, even as the Kidney Foundation notes with concern talks about transplantation, the body has no say, nor no involvement, in such activities. He however disclosed that the Foundation had previously written to the Minister of Health and the Chief Medical Officer requesting a meeting, a forum at which he anticipates that the issue of transplantation legislation will be discussed.
“One of the agenda items we wish to discuss is that we feel there needs to be that framework in place in anticipation that there will be opportunities where people, who wish to have transplants, will be able to do so but also ensuring that the legal proceedings and after care are in place before that happens,” said Singh.
He underscored that one of the insidious aspects of kidney disease is that it could “creep up on you and you don’t know until you have a problem.” Singh said that the Foundation, which has as its mandate to raise awareness about chronic kidney disease with a view of prevention or reducing fatal outcomes, has been stressing the need for members of the public to be screened. “You may feel that you are perfectly healthy but you need to get screened to determine whether you have any of the symptoms that can lead to chronic kidney disease. This is why every single citizen, not just those who are probably experiencing problems, needs to do this, including children so we would like to see this as a national campaign to ensure that every single person has a screening.”
And screening, according to him, could include simple things such as blood pressure, blood sugar or even kidney function tests.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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