The National Kidney and Transplant Institute's (NKTI) Human Organ Preservation Effort (HOPE) emphasized the “urgent need” for improved access to transplant centers in the Philippines.
“There are 38 transplant centers in the Philippines, with 11 of them being government hospitals and the remaining 27 being private hospitals that offer transplantation services,” said HOPE transplant coordinator Peter Paul Plegaria during a forum on Saturday, Feb. 24.
However, he pointed out that several regions in the Philippines, including Cagayan Valley, MIMAROPA (Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), Zamboanga Peninsula, Soccsksargen, Caraga and MOH-BARMM (Ministry of Health-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) still “lack” transplant centers.
"Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant contributor to illness and mortality in the Philippines, affecting approximately 2.3 million Filipinos," said Plegaria, underscoring the insufficient number of transplant centers in the country despite the high prevalence of CKD.
Concerning these, he stressed that the NKTI is actively working to capacitate hospitals under the Department of Health (DOH) to become renal centers, thereby enabling them to provide organ transplantation services.
Transplant census
Plegaria also shared HOPE's organ transplant census from 2019 to 2023, revealing 300 transplant cases.
He noted a “decrease” in numbers during the pandemic years from 2019 to 2021.
“But through our strategies at digitalization na ginawa ng HOPE-NKTI ay na-slightly increase ang rate ng deceased donors so marami po talaga tayong natanggap na referral sa mga partner hospitals namin (But through our strategies in digitalization implemented by HOPE-NKTI, we have slightly increased the rate of deceased donors, resulting in receiving a lot of referrals from our partner hospitals),” Plegaria said.
He acknowledged that there are cases where donors cannot be accepted due to various problems.
He added the criteria for living-related donors, saying relatives up to the fourth degree or first cousins can donate organs to a patient.
He also said that the NKTI encourages living-related donors for better matching with the patient.
“We also promote the deceased donation program, ito po ang mga patient na brain dead na; ito po ang nakikita natin sa mga trauma hospitals na pwede na silang maging organ donor (We also promote the deceased donation program, ito po ang mga patient na brain dead na; ito po ang makikita natin sa mga trauma hospitals natin na pwede na silang maging organ donor),” added Plegaria.
Successful kidney transplants
Meanwhile, he said that the NKTI has successfully transplanted 27 patients from the waiting list, with two kidneys sourced from the Philippine General Hospital.
"Just because NKTI retrieved organs doesn't mean the kidneys go straight to NKTI. They also go to other centers because allocation is done by the DOH," Plegaria said in Filipino.
"It's not a matter of who registered first; the DOH has criteria for matching donors. The organ goes to whoever is the best match in terms of blood type and other factors," he added.
Moreover, Plegaria highlighted that 67 percent of potential donors are not trauma cases, suffering from illnesses like pneumonia and stroke, while 28 percent have diseases like sepsis or infections, disqualifying them as donors.
He emphasized that 281 individuals in need of a kidney organ are on the waiting list in the Philippines.
"Imagine, with so many people suffering from CKD and undergoing dialysis, this is the only number on the waiting list, so it's very low," Plegaria said.
Regarding this, he encouraged everyone to inform acquaintances undergoing dialysis that it's not the only solution for CKD; there's also transplantation, another way to return to their normal lives.
Furthermore, NKTI disclosed that 13 individuals await liver transplants, while three recipients await lung transplants.
He said that the NKTI recently launched the lung transplant program in partnership with the Lung Center of the Philippines, aiming to perform the “first” lung transplant in the country.
"We await the opportune moment for our recipients, as lung transplantation has not yet been conducted in the Philippines. We hope fellow hospitals, especially trauma centers, will support us by donating potential donors, as NKTI alone cannot manage," Peter concluded.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2024/2/19/nkti-laments-shortage-of-organ-donors
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