By Rita Kyriakides
CYPRUS has one of the highest rates of transplants per year in the world, despite a desperate shortage of organ donors, a top doctor said yesterday.
There has been a dramatic decrease in the amount of donors in Cyprus, despite the increasing amount of patients needing kidney, liver and heart transplants.
In the first 10 months of this year, there have only been two organ donors, compared to the six or more donors a year over the past 15 years.
Doctor Giorgos Kyriakides, Director of the Paraskevaidion Transplant Clinic in Nicosia told the Cyprus Mailyesterday that an average of 40 transplants were performed in Cyprus per year – a 65 per million inhabitants, one of the highest in the world.
But he said this year’s small amount of donors was ” a cause for concern”as there were many patients awaiting transplants.
Kyriakides said there were two types of donors – living donors, who are usually related to the patient, and deceased donors, usually people who have donor cards.
The majority of donors in Cyprus are living donors, despite the fact that at least 10 per cent of people killed in traffic accident are considered suitable donors.
” We are not praying for people to die, but we should have had at least 18 suitable donors from the people who were killed in accidents this year, “said Kyriakides.
He believes there are two possible reasons for the lack of donors in Cyprus: either the relatives of the deceased do not want to donate their loved one’s organs, or the doctors are not taking the time or effort to ask the relatives.
” It takes a lot of effort and discretion on the part of the doctor. It is difficult to tell the relatives that their loved one is dead. Of course, there will be denial from the relatives and they need at least 24 hours to accept it,”said Kyriakides.
He feels people have to be made more aware that they could be suitable donors.
” Transplantation is one of the best treatments for chronic organ failure, which we cannot not give up on. We are talking about people who are dead. We are not talking about grabbing organs from people who are still alive, “said Kyriakides.
But the laws covering organ donation are up for amendment, and the Health Ministry has drafted a bill that will put an organ registry into effect.
According to Kyriakides, Belgium and Austria run very successful ‘opt-out systems’, where everyone is considered an organ donor unless they specifically register as non-donors.
He said such a system would make things easier on doctors and on relatives, who would not have to make the decision at a time of bereavement.
Health Minister Frixos Savvides said yesterday the government would seek to push through an opt-out scheme, but doubted Cyprus was ready for such a measure. He said such a provision would wipe out waiting lists for organs almost overnight, adding the registries in Belgium and Austria had been a phenomenal success.
However, he cast doubt on whether the government would be able to push through such a provision, saying he feared society was not ready for it.
Currently, Cyprus has an agreement with the University of Vienna and a number of successful organ transplants have been performed there.
” There have been quite a few successful lung transplants at the University, as well as a heart transplant for a 14-year-old girl. They have enough organs to meet the local demand and can also facilitate us,”Savvides told the Cyprus Mail .
There are currently 12 people awaiting heart transplants, 120 people on the list for kidneys transplants and 10 people waiting for livers in Cyprus.
