Donation to Life Association Leader Hüseyin Yıldırımoğlu, Koç University Hospital Organ Transplant Coordinator Mümin Uzunalan and Koç University Hospital Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Center Manager Prof. Dr. Burak Koçak made a special speech for the 3-9 November World Organ Donation Week.
Underlining that, statistically, they lose about 30 of the patients who are waiting for organs on the lists every day, Hüseyin Yıldırımoğlu said, “We have approximately 27.000 patients waiting for organs, however, we are uncomfortable with the fact that the numbers are said so easily. We think that it is easy to look at the waiting patients in terms of events or numbers and does not cover the statement we want to give.
For those of us who are waiting, we are trying to explain that each of these numbers has different stories, families, friends, professions, in short, each of them is human, and while a life is invaluable, each of them is in the thousands. When we look at the event in this way, we see and know that a family, a house, an apartment, a street, a neighborhood or even a city full of people are waiting for an organ.” said.
Speaking on the effect of organ donation in the pandemic process, Hüseyin Yıldırımoğlu said, “Organ transplantation from a cadaver, separation of some of the beds in the intensive care unit for coronavirus patients due to coronavirus, proving twice with a negative test result that those who were found to have brain damage and whose family donated organs did not carry the coronavirus. processes resulted in a decline in organ use rates and organ donations. It is also valid for the health branch to provide harmony
to the variability in every business branch during the pandemic period.” he said.
Pointing out that those who are ignorant mislead about organ donation, Hüseyin Yıldırımoğlu said: “In order to prevent this, we need to explain more facts about organ donation and transplantation to our people in a transparent manner. In the survey studies on organ donation, it has been determined that people have concerns that they will give up very quickly if an organ donation card comes out of their pocket when they have a sudden
accident or trauma due to their problems with the health system. With this logic, every patient in a critical care bed appears as a potential organ donor. We try to explain the death of the brain at every opportunity, we try to explain that the death of the brain is a real death, that it is not possible to recycle
and that the distribution of organs is distributed fairly by the Ministry of Health in a transparent form. The organ is not an object that we can buy from a random place, its only source is human and that person’s belief that his donation will go to the wrong place and his worries disappear, but only through education and information. In every activity we do as an association, our aim is to reach an individual. If we can change a
person’s point of view positively, we will have our greatest spiritual satisfaction from now on, as it has been up to now.”
Relatives definitely need to give consent for organ donation
Mentioning that it is not possible to donate organs from every human being who has died, Mümin Uzunalan said, “Death for organ donation from a cadaver must occur under heavy care rules, while the event is connected to an artificial respiration device. The relatives of the deceased should also be willing to donate organs. Whether or not a person donates his organs in good health, it is a rule that the relatives who are left behind
should also give consent compared to our country’s legislation.” he said. Noting that it is very difficult to give a clear time for the waiting period of the patients for organ transplantation, Mümin Uzunalan said, “Patients with living donors get the opportunity of organ transplantation in a short time. However, the only organs that can be transplanted from living donors are the liver and kidney. The time to wait is unknown for patients who do not have a living donor or for patients with heart, lung, pancreas
and small intestine insufficiency. made a statement.
The waiting process of organ transplantation is very strong for both patients and their relatives
Emphasizing that the waiting period is a very powerful process for patients and their relatives, Koç University Hospital Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Center Manager Prof. Dr. Burak Koçak said, “Donors should not hesitate to transfer. Because, not performing the transplants on time may cause bigger problems in terms of the health of the patients. Thanks to these measures, transfers can be made. At this point, our patients do not need to shy away from organ transplantation. On the other hand, unfortunately, the number of cadaveric organ donations is very low in our country. There have been small increases in recent years, but when compared to expectations, there are significant differences. As a result of this, the waiting period of the patients is prolonged, their diseases progress and this situation starts to damage other organs as well. From time to time, he has to be hospitalized and the number of these hospitalizations and the burden of each hospitalization are increasing. Chronic organ failure is a very painful process for the families of the patients. Family life depending on the stages of the disease; It is adversely affected by loss of work force, staying away from education, growth-development retardation in children, mental depressions, disconnection from social life and even a life dependent on a hospital.” said.
Opening a different parenthesis to the decline in organ donation during the coronavirus process, Prof. Dr. Burak Koçak said, “The pandemic period has adversely affected organ donations, especially from cadavers. Some reasons can be mentioned, such as the increasing occupancy rates of intensive care beds, the prolongation of the coronavirus screening process, which should inevitably be made to donors, and the failures in informing families about the process. Despite this, it is not possible to talk about the same situations
for living organ donors. Donors who want to rehabilitate their loved ones again come up with a strong motivation. We also need to make sure that they are healthy individuals and that the planned surgery will not harm his health during the operation and for the rest of his life. For this purpose, many tests and evaluations are made by adhering to the practices of contemporary medicine. Of course, the additional measures brought by the pandemic rules, which cause us to have troubled days in our country as well as all over the world, are of course strictly implemented. he said.
