Program of transplant organization to coordinate the development of organ donation in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Introduction: In recent years organ transplantation has become a well-established procedure for management of renal, liver, cardiac, and respiratory failure. In spite of that, a shortage of organs still remains a serious problem to the full development of these therapeutic approaches in Kazakhstan. Method: The first kidney transplantation was performed in Kazakhstan in 1979, approximately 40 years ago. The operation itself was technically successful, but the lack of immunosuppression caused graft rejection, and the patient died after a few days. Result: Due to government policy, an organized organ transplant program started more than 4 years ago and the program was supported by the Ministry of Health. During this period a well-designed program of transplant organization has been established. In Kazakhstan, each potential donor hospital has a transplant coordinator who is responsible for the whole process of organ procurement. Eleven transplant centers work currently in Kazakhstan, and 557 transplantations have been performed up to the middle of the year 2015. We found that renal, liver and cardiac transplants increased since coordination program started. Conclusion: We conclude that this program was successful in Kazakhstan and organ donation, procurement, and transplantation would become commonplace events to solve the problem of the organ donor shortage.