Increasing organ donation rates from Muslim donors: lessons from a successful model

Abstract

As the great majority of the population in Saudi Arabia is Muslim, the Islamic views about organ donation and transplantation have been the focus of interest to the transplant community in this and other Muslim countries. The first resolution of the Islamic council in Saudi Arabia (Senior Ulama Commission) about organ donation and transplantation was issued in 1982. It permitted tissue and organ transplantation from both living and cadaveric donors. This resolution marked a new era in organ transplantation in Saudi Arabia, leading to the formation of the Saudi Center of organ transplantation (SCOT), which organizes the process of organ donation and transplantation in Saudi Arabia. There were major strategies to reach the goals of the organ procurement centers adopted by SCOT: improving the awareness of the medical community to the importance of organ donation and transplantation, improving the awareness of the public at large to the importance of organ donation and transplantation, and developing an efficient coordinated system with both the donating hospitals and the transplant centers. Various organs had been transplanted in Saudi Arabia through the end of 2002: 3759 kidney transplants (1267 cadaver, 2492 living); 279 liver transplants(225 cadaver, 54 living); 92 heart transplants; 421 cornea transplants; 8 lungs; and 5 combined kidneys and pancreas. In addition, there have been many tissue donations of bone marrow, heart valves (264 hearts), skin, and bone. Despite the success of the Saudi program, there have been public and medical obstacles that have obviated the full benefit of cadaver donors. We suggest increasing the awareness of the medical community and the public at large to the importance of organ donation and transplantation.