'Organ transplant best method compared to dialysis treatment'

KUALA LUMPUR: Organ transplant is the best method for the treatment of kidney disease compared with routine dialysis procedure, said a kidney transplant specialist.

Datuk Dr Ghazali Ahmad, who is also Malaysian Society of Transplantation president, said the method was better because dialysis treatment not only required high cost but it might cause various complications.

"Organ transplant also has more advantages in terms of wellbeing compared to dialysis treatment while studies have proven that almost 4,000 renal kidney patients failed to be saved each year," he said.

He was speaking to reporters after flagging off the #KayuhanTransplan cycling programme participants at Kuala Lumpur Hospital here.

He said about 7,000 people with kidney failure are recorded in the country annually.
Dr Ghazali said the majority of the patients needed kidney donors for transplantation but only a small number managed to undergo the procedure.

"This is because only 50% to 70% of organs can be collected to be donated to the patient concerned," he said.

National Transplant Resources Centre chief national transplant procurement manager and donor coordinator Dr Fadhilah Zowyah Lela Yasmin Mansor said the people needed to be given wider exposure pertaining to organ donation.

She said this was due to some misconceptions on organ donation, including the issue of religious laws.

"As such we will continue to actively carry out awareness programmes in favour of organ donation besides distributing pamphlets," she added.

The #KayuhanTransplan programme from Oct 22 to 27 will see nine volunteers cycling a distance of 650km through 12 stops to Ipoh, Perak to raise awareness on organ donation. — Bernama