According to official data, nearly 30 thousand people are waiting for organ transplants in Turkey. On the other hand, while 3 person every 1 hours and 8 people a day died while waiting for a transplant, a total of 2021 organ transplants took place in the first six months of 3703. Nephrology Specialist Assoc. Dr. Ali Minister, "Although we are in a very good situation in living organ donation, we are not at the desired level in deceased donations."
Despite the publicity and awareness efforts on organ transplantation in recent years, the number of donations is still very low compared to the number of people waiting for organs. Yeditepe University Koşuyolu Hospital Nephrology specialist Assoc. Dr. Ali Minister continued his words as follows: “To make a comparison between us and the countries where organ transplantation is developed, there is an average difference of 10-15 times. Despite being a Catholic community, rates in Spain are between 1-35 per 40 million inhabitants. Again, rates in other European countries and America are above 1 per 25 million. In our country, nearly 30 thousand patients are waiting for organ transplantation and 4000-5000 new patients are added to this figure every year. However, 4000 to 5000 people can be transplanted every year. The most important obstacle to organ donation is unfounded information, prejudices and false religious beliefs about organ donation.”
REFERENCES HAVE A TASK
According to the 2017 report prepared jointly by the European Medicines Quality and Health Services Directorate (EDQM) and the Global Observatory for Organ Donation and Transplantation (GODT), a total of 128.234 organ transplants took place all over the world. Assoc. Dr. Ali Minister said, “The most important reason for the low number of deaths in our country is the lack of information. A family who is considering donating the organs of a deceased relative is worried that the physical integrity of the person will be completely destroyed. People ask 'do I commit a sin if I donate organs?' has a thought. There are also some reservations due to lack of religious knowledge or prejudices. Sometimes 'Would you like to donate organs?' We see that the families we asked wanted to consult a religious man first. In order to increase organ donation in our country, the Presidency of Religious Affairs should insist on this issue. With the positive support of religious officials and muftis in the provinces and districts, the rate of increase will increase even more.”
The average number of donors with brain death who are suitable for transplantation in the intensive care setting is 1.250 per year. Stating that only 40 percent of this donated their organs, Assoc. Dr. Ali Minister added that the ratio of deceased organ donors to our population is 1 out of 7 million people.
BELGIUM MODEL CAN BE THE SOLUTION
Emphasizing that there are four methods for organ donation in the world, Assoc. Dr. Ali Minister also stated that these methods come into play when the donor is not ready to donate organs voluntarily. “These regulations differ in each country. In our country, anyone who has reached the age of 18 and has a sound mind can donate organs voluntarily. However, the whole world is rapidly turning to the 'Belgian Model in Organ Donation System', which has the understanding of 'accepted as an organ donor', unless every individual over the age of 18 objected to being an organ donor when they were healthy," said Yeditepe University Koşuyolu Hospital Nephrology Specialist Assoc. Dr. The Minister emphasized that in order to increase the number of deceased donations in our country, it would be a solution to change the donation methods and move to the Belgian model.
DONATE YOUR ORGANS WHILE LIVING!
Stating that a person can give life to eight people when he donates all his organs, Assoc. Dr. Pointing out that nearly 2 thousand people, including 30 children, are waiting for a transplant, the Minister said, “All citizens should make sacrifices and take responsibility. Please donate your organ while you're alive," he said.
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