Caribbean urged to join forces on organ transplants

Barbados could expand access to kidney transplants if Caribbean countries deepen cooperation on organ donation and transplant services, the head of the  Barbados Kidney Association. 

As the  Senate passed the Human Tissue Transplant Bill on Wednesday to create the framework for a deceased organ donation programme, BKA president Sadie-Ann Sisnett said the region already has a growing transplant capacity.

She highlighted programmes in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, and the Bahamas, which recently completed its first living donor transplant.

“There are quite a few instances in our Caribbean context that you can see live donations and deceased donations happening.”

High rates of non-communicable diseases in the Caribbean mean limiting donation within individual countries could restrict the region’s overall capacity, he said.

Stronger regional collaboration could reduce the need for patients to travel outside the Caribbean for transplant surgery, Sisnett said.

“Our doctors, through regional cooperation, they go to the other Caribbean countries to assist with surgeries… that could be expanded to where you have donations from other countries, persons not having to go overseas to the US or Canada or somewhere else to have a transplant done because it can be done here in the region.”

He pointed to the expertise that already exists in the Caribbean, noting the role of training organisations such as TLC Transplant Links Charity, which has supported the development of transplant surgeons across the region.

“All of this has been done to a very high standard. We’re about to have our 20th transplant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and our surgeons are well trained and experienced.”

Sisnett added that a more coordinated regional approach could also strengthen medical tourism and related healthcare services across the Caribbean.

Founder and president of Kidney Caribbean, Allan Haynes, a former president of the BKA, also believes the region has an opportunity to develop a stronger transplant industry , which could bring significant financial benefits.

Speaking from his background in accounting, Haynes said kidney transplantation could give the region a competitive advantage in global medical services:

“America did last year 27 total transplants, but over there a transplant is costly, between US$250 000 to US$500 000. We can do it for about $100 000.”

Even a modest number of international cases could generate significant foreign exchange earnings for the region, Haynes said. 

“If the region can even bring 100 of those operations to market, that’s earning about $25m to $50m, and that does not include the family and relatives that have to come.”

He suggested that a regional transplant industry could help reduce healthcare costs while also creating new economic opportunities.

“So I’m also trying to push the offshore part… a local industry to save local costs and an offshore industry to earn foreign exchange,” he said.

(LG)