Surgeon hopes Guyana is one step closer to having organ donor/ transplant legislation in place

Oct 06, 2021 News

After initial delay…

Kaieteur News – Doctors and patients are keeping their fingers crossed as the Government moves one step closer to bringing on stream an organ donor and transplant legislation.
The Human Organ and Tissue Transplant bill 2021 in its final draft form is slated to be reviewed by Cabinet before it is presented to the National Assembly when Parliament resumes this month. The bill, which was slated to be in Parliament in May of this year had been faced with a delay. As such, it was postponed to reach Parliament this October.

Multi-Organ Transplant and Vascular Access Surgeon, Dr Kishore Persaud.

Speaking on the prospect of having the legislation in force, Head of Department, Multi-Organ Transplant and Vascular Access Surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr Kishore Persaud explained that “if all goes as planned and the bill is passed through the parliamentary process, many patients waiting on transplant will experience a greater ease in getting organ donors.”
Dr. Persaud is among the team of medical professionals advocating for the legislation to be brought on stream. He explained the impact it would have on the list of patients in need of transplants.
“We have at least 250 patients with kidney disease on treatment and 30 patients on the list for immediate transplant, whereas if the necessary infrastructure is in place, we can move faster towards getting the transplants done,” Dr Persaud stated.
He explained that: “These people are suffering; dialysis treatment is costly so if we have the legislation, we can safely perform transplants using the organs cadaveric or brain dead patients. The human organ and tissue transplant law will allow us to have more organs available since finding donors for the procedures has been an issue. Then, more patients will be able to benefit from transplant surgeries.”
The surgeon stressed that lives are literally dependent on the legislation. “We are doing the best we can as is, but we need this legislation in place like yesterday,” he said expressing hope that the administration will deliver on the promise to bring the law into fruition.
In January, Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall S.C, met with Dr. Persaud, his team, and members of the Guyana Medical Council as part of efforts to introduce the legislation to Guyana.
Back then the AG Chambers said, in a release, that Guyana is currently bereft of legislation governing, authorising and regulating the donation of tissue and organs to persons who meet the criteria of either being a donor or recipient of such donation.
The statement noted that in order to protect the citizens of Guyana from being victims of trafficking in human organs and tissue, the legislation will also propose to address the prohibition of trade in human tissue, organs and blood and as a result will create offences and penalties to monitor such dire incidents.
According to the statement, a consultative approach has been agreed upon which will include consultative engagements involving all stakeholders and associations and their collective input will be channelled into the legislation and ensuing regulations.
The release had outlined plans to execute the agenda of the Bill with the AG indicating that the Bill shall be ready for Parliament on or before May 2021.