Guyana's Georgetown Hospital certified as a kidney transplant centre

livus, 2 months ago

From the article:

The establishment of the HOATTA was made possible through the enactment of the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Act 2022. The agency’s members were officially gazetted in February 2023, with their appointments taking effect in April of the same year.

To ensure that the procedures are of high standards, there was a lot of investment in capacity building and acquiring regulations to operationalise the Act. There are seven drafted regulations and the training of staff to perform for the transplant programme is ongoing.

Dr Anthony said the agency’s team has worked ardently to push the barriers and ensure that kidney transplants in Guyana are advanced. Several collaborations with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), among other international stakeholders in the medical fraternity, were key factors for the level of service attained.

With the certification, it is expected that various types of transplants will soon be conducted locally.“Because of these arrangements we have been able to put a lot of measures in place, so as we go forward, moving from living donors to Cadaveric transplants, I think the public can rest assured that we are adhering to all the best international practices,” Anthony said.

To further advance the training of the medical fraternity in kidney transplant and nephrology, the Government of Guyana is seeking partnerships with countries like Spain and Brazil.

Chair of the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Agency, Dr Shanti Singh, said the agency is already engaging with dialysis centres that can further engage persons with kidney disease to consider transplants.