Two years after the groundbreaking Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Bill was passed, efforts are still underway to implement it effectively so that deceased donor (cadaveric) transplants can be performed. The law was enacted to govern and regulate advancements in regenerative medicine.
“We have been working to bring that legislation to life,” Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony said at a yearend press conference on December 31, 2024.
Following the passage of the legislation in 2022, the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Agency (HOTTA) was established.
HOTTA collaborates with local and international partners, including the Donation and Transplantation Institute (DTI) in Barcelona and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), to ensure the programme adheres to global standards.
“We had experts come from Barcelona to work with the team here to build out a lot of the regulations, so those regulations are now available,” Dr Anthony said.
Dr Anthony further stated that HOTTA is also working with local private hospitals to certify them for performing transplants by the end of 2025. Currently, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is the only certified facility approved to conduct transplants.
“There are others in the private that have indicated they would like to be certified and they have been told the requirement and they are going through that process to be certified,” the health minister said.
Meanwhile, the Director of Medical Services at GPHC, Dr. Navindranauth Rambarran revealed while live donor transplants are being successfully conducted, and efforts are underway to enable cadaveric transplants.
Dr. Rambarran was speaking at GPHC’s yearend press conference and explained that extensive work was required to prepare for cadaveric transplants, including infrastructure development, training, protocol formulation, and community sensitisation.
“We are on the cusp of being able to effectively conduct cadaveric transplants, possibly within a few months,” Dr. Rambarran stated.
However, he noted a key challenge is being able to perform the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) tissue testing locally. Currently, samples must be sent overseas.
“You can imagine if we needed to send those samples abroad while we kept someone on a ventilator to get those results in a week is just not feasible so until we are able to get that testing we hope to have soon then we wouldn’t be able to progress.
“We’ve been assured by the agency, the health ministry, and our partners that it [testing] should be up and running in the coming months,” Dr. Rambarran added.
Additionally, a national registry for organ donors and recipients is under development, spearheaded by nephrologists at GPHC in collaboration with HOTTA.
This registry will include an official list of transplant recipients and a catalog of registered donors, ensuring a structured and transparent system for organ and tissue transplantation.
