There is a large number of patients, most of them in their 30-40s, on organ transplant list waiting for donors, a report by Saudi Center for Organ Trans plantation said. The organs of a large number of brain-dead people in the Kingdom can save many lives on the waiting list as they pass away without donations, mostly because of family refusal despite its Islamic legality and legitimacy, the report said. Failure to obtain donation consents of brain deaths is 98.3 percent due to family refusal, the report said. But there have been, however, signs of awareness. "Organs recently donated by the families of three brain-dead Saudi patients have saved the lives of 15 people on the waiting list," said Dr. Faisal Abdulrahim Shahin, director general of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation. Dr. Shahin indicated that the organ team in Riyadh secured the three donation consents in a week's time. The donated organs included three hearts, three lungs, three livers and six kidneys. Only 21 percent of the families of brain deaths signed donations consents. "The Ministry of Health obtained in 2007 some 54 post-death organ donation consents for 70 kidneys, 34 livers and eight hearts, in addition to 23 hearts used as a source of valves and nine corneas," he added. According to reports from the World Health Organization, kidneys have been reported as the most vital organ under demand in 98 countries. On the acceptance of living organ donations, he said this process would be governed by a number of factors, including religious and ethical guidelines, protection of a donor's health, voluntarily donation free of any pressure, and the set up of committees concerned with the ethics of transplant of cells, tissues and organs. He added that living organ donors are encouraged as long as necessary measures are taken to protect patients and donors against organ trafficking. As for general procedures to be followed by hospitals and organ transplant centers, he said they are advised to report all suspected cases of brain deaths directly to the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation. He called for expanding the work of internal organ donation committees at the Kingdom's hospitals to address the cases of brain deaths and organ transplantation. An organ donation project campaign, organized by the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations in Saudi Arabia (IFMSA-SA) in cooperation with the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation, will be launched across the nation for two years. IFMSA-SA, founded in 2007, targets medical students in Saudi Arabia as its members with the student having the decision of how much active role he or she is ready to put into the IFMSA-SA. With the increasing number of patients requiring frequent Dialysis in Saudi Arabia, the planned two-year campaign aims at raising the public awareness about brain death and organ donations. By 2015, the number of patients in Saudi Arabia on dialysis is expected to reach 14,000, with an average annual increase of 8.7 percent, the report said. __
