The president of the Portuguese Transplant Society (SPT) argued that it is necessary to publicize the importance of Organ transplant and call for living donation.warning that the lack of human resources in health can condition this activity.
Wednesday marks the National Day of Organ Donation and Transplantation, a date that will be commemorated jointly by the SPT and the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation (IPST) with a meeting on “Sustainability of donation and transplantation“, with representatives of various organizations working in this area.
Regarding the issue of sustainability, the president of the SPT, Cristina Jorge, defends, in a statement, that in order to maintain transplant activity it is necessary to publicize the importance of organ extraction and transplantation, “appeal and exalt the altruism of the gift in life” and “promote and value the professionals involved in this activity”.
On the other hand, the official considers that the donors and their families must be considered essential for the transplant to be carried out and to be maintained and stresses that the best evaluation and follow-up conditions are given to transplant candidates. and transplant patients.
Cristina Jorge believes, therefore, that there is “the possibility of making the request for examinations for these patients more flexible, in addition to the hospital unit where the follow-up is carried out, the promotion of their follow-up also by video or teleconsultations and the proximity to their area of home”.
It also proposes that the possibility of harvesting donors in controlled cardiocirculatory arrest be considered,”similar to what happens in other countries“, taking Spain as an example, this being a way of increasing the collection capacity that would unite the donor in brain death and the donor in uncontrolled cardiocirculatory arrest.
Cristina Jorge also warns that the scarcity of human resources in the health area may affect the results of transplants in Portugal, despite acknowledging that this activity depends on the available organs and that the demand continues to be much higher than the supply.
“In order for organs to be harvested from a potential donor, there must be a lot of organization and motivated professionals for the transplant.”, says the president of the SPT, warning that “the shortage of human resources in health and especially in the area of harvesting and transplanting also affects the result of this activity” and that many teams are “working at the limit of their possibilities”. capacities”.
The IPST data, cited in the SPT statement, shows that in 2021 organ donation and transplantation increased compared to 2020, “after the reorganization of hospital activity caused by the pandemic“.
“Deceased donor organ donation registered an increase of approximately 19%, with 49 more donors, and there was also a 12% increase in transplant activity, with 86 more organs transplanted in 2021,” says the SPT.
It also mentions that the pandemic had an impact on the reduction in the number of transplants, as a consequence of the suspension of non-urgent activity in the most critical periods of the pandemic and that this situation caused a delay, not only in carrying out the necessary tests and consultations. for the study of potential transplant recipients, as well as their inclusion in the Active List.
Source: Observadora
