The Transplant Association of Nigeria (TAN) has called for a law to regulate the donation of human organs.
This, it said, would promote donation of human organs, advance organ transplant, reduce mortality and curb medical tourism outside Nigeria.
The association made the call at its fifth biennial scientific conference with the theme “Advancing organ transplantation in Nigeria: The journey so far’’ held in Abuja, on Tuesday.
In a paper presentation, a Consultant Nephrologist, Prof. Adewale Akinsola, noted that many patients had died while waiting for organ donation and transplant, hence the need to review the nation’s organ transplantation laws and regulations.
“We need to be stringent on `consent’ requirement given while alive or delayed to the point of death. While alive, an individual might have consented to donate his or her kidneys upon his or her death, but the family has responsibility at the end of the day and might not give consent,’’ he noted.
Akinsola also charged government to create public awareness on the importance of deceased’s organ donation and to create a health insurance scheme that would cover treatment for some terminal diseases at subsidised rates.
TAN President, Prof. Fatiu Arogundade, also identified funding, organ sourcing, poor infrastructure as some of the challenges militating against organ transplantation in Nigeria.
He also said that the enactment of a law to promote deceased’s organ donation would reduce the number of persons awaiting organ transplantation, save lives and improve peoples’ health statuses.
“The National Health Act of 2008 has already proposed mechanisms for the law and all we need is for stakeholders to come together and be coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Health,” he added.
Arogundade said Nigeria currently has 16 kidney centres and stressed the need for the establishment of more to discourage medical tourism, saying additional centres would improve access to quality healthcare services and would make Nigeria to remain relevant in the comity of organ transplantation countries, he submitted.
In his own presentation, Dr Olalekan Olatise, Chief Medical Director of a private kidney centre, noted that notwithstanding the dearth of organ donation globally, the success rate of organ transplantation in Nigeria was good.
Olatise, however, reiterated the need to improve organ transplant action in Nigeria.
