The Health Ministry will be working this year with several international entities to certify more hospitals to perform organ transplantation procedures.
This was revealed by Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony during the Health Ministry’s end-of-year press conference.
Minister Anthony noted that the Health Ministry’s Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Agency (HOTTA) has been working closely with several international health agencies, such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Donation Transplant Institute (DTI) in Barcelona, to certify more hospitals for the procedure.
“We have a transplant agency that has been set up, and that agency has worked with several partners, both locally and internationally, to put a number of regulations in place so that we can monitor and have these things done to international standards…,” Minister Dr Anthony has revealed.
“In addition to that, the agencies have been working with the hospitals locally to certify them to be able to do transplant,” he explained.
The Georgetown Public Hospital(GPHC) is currently the only health facility that has been certified to conduct organ transplantation; but in a bid to improve healthcare, Minister Anthony noted, the Health Ministry is working to certify more hospitals in this regard this year.
“(There are) others in the private sector that have indicated that they would like to be certified, and they have been told the requirements. So, they are going through that process of meeting those requirements to be certified,” he disclosed.
Minister Anthony noted that kidney transplantation is the only type of transplantation currently done at the GPHC.
This procedure is carried out with live donors, he explained, but noted that the Ministry is looking to soon implement deceased donor transplantation for this operation.
“As you know, we are doing live donor transplant for kidneys, and they have been looking into the possibility of us doing deceased donor transplant. So that is something that we have been working on,” he explained.
Moreover, Dr. Anthony noted that the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Act has paved the way for the Health Ministry to expand its services.
“So, the legislation that we passed in 2022, that piece of legislation, it has broadly three broad areas. One, it provides for transplant of organs, tissues, and…there’s a section there that also talks about transfusion…And the third component of that legislation talks about regenerative medicine, meaning to use things like stem cells. So that is covered in the legislation, and we have been working to bring that legislation to life,” he disclosed.
The Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Act was passed in the National Assembly in 2022. The bill has incorporated measures to establish an agency responsible for overseeing the removal, donation, and transfer of human organs to patients requiring them. The agency is expected to collaborate with authorised hospitals to coordinate surgeries and develop operating protocols.
Additionally, the agency would be responsible for conducting public awareness campaigns regarding consent for organ donation and utilisation.
The bill also notes that transplantation is to be used in regenerative medicine, including cell therapy, gene therapy, stem cell therapy and other therapeutic purposes; for medical education and scientific research purposes, including stem cell research, cell explant research, and cell line research; and for connected matters.
