Organisation shines light on living kidney donations

WORLD Kidney Day is celebrated around the globe on March 10, focusing on kidney health for all.

In keeping with this year’s theme, Transplant Education for Living Legacies (TELL) wishes to put the spotlight on living kidney donation.

According to TELL managing director, Stella de Kock, “For someone who has End-Stage-Renal Failure (Chronic Kidney Failure) there are two treatment options available: dialysis or a transplant from a deceased or living donor.”

“Due to Covid-19 and a general shortage of organ donors, the rate of living donors has increased. Some transplant centres won’t list a newly diagnosed patient to the waiting list and their only hope for a transplant is a living donor. There are three types of living donors, living-related (blood-related), living unrelated (a family member or friend), and an altruistic donor.”

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De Kock said that any person that wishes to be a living donor needs to be in perfect health and must go through an extensive medical evaluation both physical and mental.

“This is to ensure that both the potential living donor and the recipient gets the best chance of a successful outcome. To be listed for a transplant, the recipient goes through a variety of tests and is assessed on an ongoing basis by their specialist,” said de Kock.

She said that once all the tests are completed, the case will be presented at the transplant panel and once they approve the case will be referred to the Department of Health advisory committee for approval for a non-related living donation or altruistic donation.

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According to TELL, South Africa has one of the highest rates of end-stage kidney failure in the world and a very low rate of organ and tissue donation and transplants.

It is also important to note that in South Africa, the donor’s family has the final say in whether or not organs are permitted to be donated.

Health campaign days such as World Kidney Day, present the ideal opportunity to address the issues concerning kidney health, kidney donation, and transplants.

Kidney disease in South Africa:

• 10% of all people in the world have some form of kidney disease.
• 850 million people are affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD), with more than two million people  worldwide receiving dialysis or living with a kidney transplant.
• 15% of South Africans are affected.
• 20 000 new patients are diagnosed every year in South Africa.
• Two leading causes of Chronic Kidney Disease are diabetes and high blood pressure.
• South Africa has one of the highest rates of end stage kidney failure in the world.

Kidney Transplants in South Africa:

• SA is one of 12 African countries that perform renal transplantation, and it is the only country in Africa that relies on deceased donation for the majority of its transplants.
• The first kidney transplant in SA took place in 1966, a year before the first heart transplant.
• The first dialysis in South Africa was done by a general practitioner that built his own dialysis machine in 1957.
• The overall 10-year increase in life expectancy of a kidney recipient compared to individuals on the waiting list.

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