A training workshop in the field of organ donation was held yesterday and was organized by the National Committee for Organ Transplantation at Royal Hospital, and in cooperation with the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation, under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Saif Al Hosni, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for health affairs, and the presence of Dr. Qasim bin Ahmed Al Salmi, General Director of the Royal Hospital and Dr. Faisal Shaheen Director of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation in addition to a number of doctors and nurses of various health institutions in the governorates of the Sultanate and that was at lectures Hall of Royal hospital.
Workshop included a welcome by Dr. Issa bin Salim Al Salmi – nephrology consultant - in which he welcomed the participants and said: organ donation is of great importance for patients who suffer from a failure in some organs of the body such as the liver and kidneys, as the latest statistics indicate increasing the number of patients who suffer from renal failure, as their number reach up to 1,500 patients.
He added: The kidney transplant is considered the optimal treatment for patients with kidney failure, however it is noted that the number of donors is very little due to several health reasons hinder citizens from donating as 20% of the population of the Sultanate suffer from diabetes, and 40% of the population suffer from high blood pressure, 60% of the population have high cholesterol rate, so the use of the organs of the clinically dead is a perfect solution, it is the standard treatment in most countries around the world, such as Saudi Arabia & Iran and neighboring countries, which severed great strides in this field.
And about organ transplants outside the Sultanate, Dr. Issa said: «It takes place in unsuitable healthy conditions, and often the patient get serious viral, bacterial and parasitic infections which lead often to eradicate the transplanted organ for the patient or death, and this represented a breach and violation of the laws adopted in Sultanate and international norms relating to trafficking in human organs ».
From the terms of legitimacy about donation of organs of brain dead people, he explained that «the Sultanate of Oman represented by the Fatwa Office authorized to donate the organs of brain dead as well as to other legitimacy entities in the Islamic countries as Saudi Fatwa house, the Islamic Fiqh Academy, and Al-Azhar.»
And about the procedures followed by the Sultanate to increase people's awareness of the importance of organ donation from brain dead people, Dr. said that the Sultanate has made great efforts in this regard such as setting awareness seminars and the publishing of educational publications in the audio-visual media about the importance of organ donation, in addition to opening a specialized clinic means to organs donation, and the allocation of card for those who wanted to donate organs after death.
The occasion patron, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for Health Affairs, honored a number of lecturers and participants from inside and outside the Sultanate.
The training workshop discussed over the two days a number of topics, including: the outlook on donation in the Arab countries, donate the organs of brain dead from the terms of Sharia, the diagnosis of brain death criteria, follow-up cases of brain dead in intensive care, and ways to manage the members of the brain dead, as the episode also discussed the optimal ways for announcement of cases of brain death to waiting list
The workshop, which will last for two days aims at activating and applying organ donation of brain dead program in the Sultanate, and discusses the challenges and obstacles facing the implementation of the program in the Sultanate, also aims to exchange experiences among the medical staff in the field of organ donation as well as to learn the latest medical and scientific developments in the this area.