Rahael appeals for cadaver kidneys

He told yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference that organ transplant surgery would soon begin in Trinidad.

"Within the next two months we will begin the transplantation of kidneys from cadavers. There is an urgent need for cadaver kidney transplants in Trinidad and Tobago."

He said transplants might relieve patients of the hardships of dialysis which they had to endure three times each week.

Kidney transplants might also relieve the cost of dialysis, which he estimated at $120,000 per patient per year. Some 250 patients were currently on dialysis in this country, he noted.

He quoted figures to show that over the years, relatively few persons from Trinidad and Tobago had undergone kidney transplants, saying that demand for the organs exceeded supply.

"In 1985 there were four kidney transplants from living donors."

Since 2003 to present, he said, 50 patients had travelled to Pakistan for kidney transplants.

But he noted that even kidney transplants themselves came at a cost, having a high cost of post-operation kidney care. In addition, he said, some 100 patients in Trinidad and Tobago need cornea transplants, to enable them to see.

Under the National Transplant Programme, he said, transplant surgeries would be performed at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, which would also be a site for organ harvesting along with the Port-of-Spain and San Fernando General Hospitals and certain private hospitals.

A dedicated National Organ Transplant Unit would be set up, he said, as he listed the staff posts of which the unit will be comprised.

Rahael said Cabinet had agreed to the transplant programme, and noted that transplants were now permitted under the Tissue Transplant Act.