The Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Agency is actively working to establish Guyana’s first National Human Organ and Transplant Registry.
This platform, which will be managed by the agency, is part of efforts to modernise Guyana’s healthcare system and fast-track the process in which ill citizens access functioning organs.
Currently, the agency takes organ donors through a rigorous process before they can donate organs. This process includes consulting with multiple stakeholders from various agencies after a donor has been identified and their family consents to the procedure being activated.
With the registry in place, the lists of national donors and recipients would be added to the Health Ministry’s database to allow citizens to become donors following their passing, and patients to receive organs, once available. The registration would include the consents, amendments, and revocation of consents from adults regarding the donation of their organs, tissues, cells, or biofluids, among other things.
Director of Medical and Professional Services at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr Navindranauth Rambaran, has said the establishment of a National Donor and Transplant Registry is provided for in Part Three, Section 13 of the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Bill 2021. In this regard, he disclosed that a prioritisation process would be implemented to ensure that recipients of organs are catered for effectively.
“…so, the agency is actively putting together both lists. With regards to the latter list, that would be the ones who would potentially receive or be recipients of donations, there will be a process of vetting those persons and arranging in order of priority based on how far the disease is, and their age. I am just giving examples of factors that are weighed in. And then that list will be dynamically updated over the years to ensure that, once organs become available, that these persons will be considered for a donation,” Dr. Rambaran has said.
The Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Agency also plans to expand its Transplant Suite located at the GPHC to accommodate more patients who have had successful transplant surgeries and require aftercare.
“As we expand, we expect that there will be a greater number of transplants being done, and we anticipate that the space for the care of these patients will have to expand,” Dr. Rambaran added.
Moreover, individuals who are in need of organ, tissue, cell, and biofluid transplantation, as well as those who have received such treatments, will be included in the registration process.
To fulfill this requirement, the Organ Tissue and Transplant Agency, through legislation, will assume the responsibility of managing, operating, and preserving the donor registry.
The Act specifies that “The Agency shall keep proper records of all its dealings in relation to its functions under this act, which shall include annotations and inventories of organs, tissues, cells, cell explants, cell lines, and biofluids and other substances available, and those used and how used.”
