Organ donation in South Africa – a call to action

Thomson, David

doi:10.7196/352

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Nevertheless, a plethora of scientific investigations nationally and globally continue to identify lack information regarding organ donation as a barrier that prevents people from participating in organ donation. Thomson (2017) supports this study's findings and reports that in South Africa, the organ donation rate is very low due to multiple factors. Firstly, there is a lack of awareness and knowledge among the public and medical professionals about brain death and organ donation.…”

Section: Discussion Of Findings or Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Evaluating Marketing Strategies in Organ Donation and Transplantation

Dimo¹

2019

GJHS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Patients suffering from end-stage diseases wait in expectation of life-saving organs that could improve their quality of life. However, there is widening gap between organ supply an demand. The intention of this study is to explore and evaluate marketing strategies in organ donation and transplantation. In an attempt to achieve the purpose of this study, a qualitative approach was employed. Phenomenology was used as the study’s research design. The study used social marketing and the theory of social constructivism as the theoretical frameworks and data was collected through in-depths interviews. Qualitative data was analysed through thematic content analysis. Purposive sampling was used to select 30 organ donation coordinators. The study established that public education is the main vehicle through which organ donation and transplantation are promoted. Educational talks, distribution of information, media, social media, expos, awareness events, and corporate and educational talks are amongst the strategies used to promote organ donation. The study recommends that the Department of Education include the issue organ donation in school curricula, and that religious organisations, regular worksite campaigns, regular television advertisements should be used as vehicles through which to promote organ donation and transplantation. Furthermore, it is recommended that additional public awareness campaigns be held in black communities. It is respectfully recommended that the Organ Donor Foundation consider opening satellite offices in all nine South African provinces.

show abstract

Section: Discussion Of Findings or Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Evaluating Marketing Strategies in Organ Donation and Transplantation

Dimo¹

2019

GJHS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[16] However, this willingness to donate has not translated into real donations: 82% of families refused when actually approached for postmortem donations. [29] Another important barrier to donation is the attitude of healthcare professionals who are at the frontline of identifying potential donors: limited local data [30] and the experience among healthcare workers elsewhere suggest that they are less likely than the general public to donate their organs or those of their relatives after death, despite their knowledge of processes and the desperate need for organs. [31,32] Educational programmes to change the attitudes of healthcare workers should be initiated early in their careers.…”

Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The state of kidney transplantation in South Africa

Moosa

2019

S Afr Med J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The first kidney transplant on the African continent was performed in Johannesburg, South Africa (SA), by Thomas Starzl and Bert Myburgh in 1966, [1] preceding the world's first heart transplant performed by Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town in 1967. [2] Transplant activity in SA remains lower than that achieved by other countries with comparable economic capacity. [3] Currently there are seven centres each in the public and private sectors offering kidney transplantation, distributed between five cities and four provinces. These transplant centres serve the 30 dialysis units in the public sector and the 228 units in the private sector. [4] Kidney disease is increasing in SA and has become one of the leading causes of mortality, accounting for a staggering 1 000 deaths per million population (pmp). [5] The challenge of coping with this situation is starkly illustrated in a recent report from a renal unit in Western Cape Province that currently accepts only 25% of patients with endstage kidney disease (ESKD) referred for treatment, down from 50% a decade ago. [6,7] The growing demand for renal replacement treatment places enormous pressure on already overburdened dialysis units around the country; the units in the public sector are particularly stressed. [8,9] SA has a two-tiered health system: a private health system is available to the 16% of the population that is able to afford medical insurance, and benefits from world-class medical care, while the remaining majority (84%) of uninsured individuals are served by state facilities that are generally under-staffed and under-resourced. [10] The marked discrepancy in healthcare is poignantly reflected in the access to renal replacement treatment: in 2015 the treatment rate in the public sector was 72 pmp compared with 799 pmp in the private sector. [4] The higher treatment rate in the private sector is because dialysis is a 'prescribed minimum benefit' introduced in SA in 1998 and requiring health insurers, among other obligations, to guarantee treatment for 25 chronic diseases, including chronic renal failure, regardless of the benefit option selected by the patient. To cope with the demand for renal replacement treatment, the number of private dialysis units increased dramatically from 5 in 1994 to 228 in 2015; during the same period, the number of units in the public sector merely increased from 26 to 30. [4] Haemodialysis was the predominant form of renal replacement in both sectors, with 46% of patients in the public sector and 85% in the private sector receiving this treatment. Only 25% of renal replacement patients in the public sector and a mere 8% in the private sector were kidney transplant recipients. [4] Objectives With kidney transplantation recognised as the most effective treatment for ESKD, both clinically and economically, the author interrogated the pattern of kidney transplantation in SA in the hope of assisting clinicians and health authorities in both the public and private sectors to develop strategies to improve kidney transplantation rates in ...

show abstract

“…black markets for organs and trafficking. These negative externalities constitute another type of inequality, which may cause market failure (Thorne, 1998) in the allocation/distribution of donated organs globally. Furthermore, the factors identified in previous research as issues in organ transplant supply chains were discussed in isolation; our study extends knowledge in this area by using MICMAC to deconstruct the variables identified in the previous literature to examine their driver power and dependence power, as well as to supplement a matrix of their relationship.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are many reasons why we focus on Africa in this study. For example, Africa has the fewest transplants (Thomson, 2017), with only South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Sudan, Seychelles, Namibia, Mauritius, Ivory Coast and Ethiopia performing organ transplants. This is a particularly pressing issue because the demand for organ transplantation has increased steadily without a corresponding increase in the number of organ donors in SSA countries (Damagum, 2022;World Health Organisation [WHO], 2020; West Cape Government, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is a particularly pressing issue because the demand for organ transplantation has increased steadily without a corresponding increase in the number of organ donors in SSA countries (Damagum, 2022;World Health Organisation [WHO], 2020; West Cape Government, 2022). For instance, just 18% of families in South Africa authorised organ donation following a death (in a hospital) in 2017 (Thomson, 2017). In addition, the median number of kidney transplant facilities in Africa is 0.15 per million population (in comparison with 0.42 globally) due to the scarcity of transplant-related services (Oguejiofor et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Connecting the dots: uncovering the relationships between challenges confronting Africa's organ transplant supply chain systems

Akenroye

Oyedijo

Rajan

et al. 2023

SCM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose This study aims to develop a hierarchical model that uncovers the relationships between challenges confronting Africa's organ transplant supply chain systems. Design/methodology/approach Eleven challenges (variables) were identified after a comprehensive review of the existing literature. The contextual interactions among these variables were analysed from the perspectives of health-care stakeholders in two sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries (Nigeria and Uganda), using Delphi-interpretive structural modelling-cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) techniques. Findings The findings reveal that weak regulatory frameworks, insufficient information systems and a lack of necessary skills make it challenging for critical actors to perform the tasks effectively. The interaction effects of these challenges weaken organ supply chains and make it less efficient, giving rise to negative externalities such as black markets for donated organs and organ tourism/trafficking. Research limitations/implications This paper establishes a solid foundation for a critical topic that could significantly impact human health and life once the government or non-profit ecosystem matures. The MICMAC analysis in this paper provides a methodological approach for future studies wishing to further develop the organ supply chain structural models. Practical implications The study provides valuable insights for experts and policymakers on where to prioritise efforts in designing interventions to strengthen organ transplantation supply chains in developing countries. Originality/value This study is one of the first to empirically examine the challenges of organ transplant supply chains from an SSA perspective, including theoretically grounded explanations from data collected in two developing countries.

show abstract

Organ donation in South Africa – a call to action

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Evaluating Marketing Strategies in Organ Donation and Transplantation

Evaluating Marketing Strategies in Organ Donation and Transplantation

The state of kidney transplantation in South Africa

Connecting the dots: uncovering the relationships between challenges confronting Africa's organ transplant supply chain systems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About