Milestones of Deceased Organ Donation in Pakistan

SIUT created medical history in Pakistan when its team carried out the first deceased kidney transplant in January 1995. The organ was gifted by the Eurotransplant Foundation which had been retrieved from a 14-year-old Dutch girl who died of cerebral hemorrhage. It was successfully transplanted into a 24-year-old Pakistani female patient with kidney failure. In total 26 organs from other deceased donors have been transplanted at SIUT.

October 1998 marked another historical event of the first locally harvested deceased organ transplant, when a young Pakistani of 24 years met a serious road traffic accident. His family approached the doctors to honor his wish of donating his organs and thus extending the gift of life to others in need. The kidney recipients were two young men in their early twenties, while his corneas restored sight of two others. Since then three more deceased donations have been made by families and been successfully transplanted into patients.

Unfortunately the absence of an organ donation law and the lack of awareness regarding deceased organ transplantation have been major hurdles in developing a deceased organ donation culture in Pakistan. Now that the organ donation law has been passed and has gained the reputation of being an ideal model for developing countries, SIUT is working with the medical community, civil society and media to help develop a deceased organ donation culture in the country.
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