Johannesburg – The Organ Donation Foundation (ODF) SA says Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on organ transplants.
Doctor Rebecca R Goff said the impact of the Covid pandemic was abrupt, profound and unprecedented, and that in South Africa donor transplants have come to a complete standstill with waiting lists increasing dramatically.
Bernice Blignaut, the programmes director for ODF, said though the Covid-19 pandemic has not negatively influenced the number of people registering as donors, the number of registrations has remained constant and increased during some periods.
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“The ODF’s database shows that KwaZulu-Natal has the lowest number of registered organ and tissue donors. The ODF is unable to provide an exact number as all the transplant centres keep their own records. However, in any given year, over 4 000 people are on the waiting list and only a few hundred transplants are performed,” she said.
“It also needs to be noted that due to the vast discrepancy between the number of people waiting versus the low number of donors, many patient do not make it onto the list,” said Purkins.
Blignaut said that the most-needed organ is the kidney due to South Africa having one of the highest incidences of renal failure in Africa. But she also noted that with Covid-19 they have been receiving more and more calls about people who suffered with long Covid, who now need lung transplants.
“It is so critical that more people register and share their intention with their family to ensure that there is a suitable match for the urgent transplant that still need to take place despite being in the midst of a pandemic,” she said.
The foundation reports that the overall reduction in deceased donor transplantations since the Covid-19 outbreak was 90.6% in France and 51.1% in the US and though the exact numbers are not yet verified for South Africa, the pandemic impacted transplantation more devastatingly than in developed countries.
Purkins said adding to the problem was the high number of admitted Covid-19 patients which led to hospital bed, ventilator and staffing shortages with many doctors and nurses being reassigned to Covid wards, making it almost impossible to realise a potential organ procurement.
Living elective donations, which make up 50% of all transplants performed have been paused at some centres and carried out on a risk assessment basis at other centres due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
“An example would be hip replacement surgery where the patient could have donated the femoral head. Many patients waiting for a transplant died,” she said.
She reiterated that if someone passes away due to Covid-19 complications their organs or tissue will not be viable to be donated.
Blignaut said that in South Africa, organ and tissue donor consent is already difficult to obtain because people do not feel comfortable saying yes to consent.
“Call to Action is a campaign to show our collective responsibility to mobilise South Africans to urgently register as organ and tissue donors. More registrations equal more lives being saved and more lives being improved. For a transplant to take place, a donor is needed who has a matching blood type, plus meets a range of criteria such as tissue typing and antibody cross-matching, which all has to match to a recipient,” she said
She said altruisic donors can donate a kidney or partial liver. An altruistic donor is a stranger who is willing to donate an organ. With regards to tissue donation one can donate the femoral head at the time of an elective hip replacement surgery.
A minor can be registered as a donor with consent from the parents or legal guardian. Also, whether you drink or smoke, a person’s health is not a constant and therefore anyone can register as a donor.
Tests to determine whether the organs are suitable for donation are only carried out at the time of death. Blignaut also said that it is against the law in South Africa to trade in organs and therefore one cannot sell their organs.
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