Trends in organ donation and transplantation over the past eighteen years in Iran

Abstract

Background This article will review the trends in organ donation over the past 18 years in Iran. Material and methods All donation and transplantation statistics were extracted by reviewing the Organ Procurement and Transplantation database of the Ministry of Health of Iran from 2002 to 2019. Results Iran's national deceased donation rate from 2002 to 2019 increased 19.06‐fold from .75 to 14.3 per million population (PMP). After the beginning of the COVID‐19 pandemic, the rate of organ donation in Iran decreased significantly. Although 1 year after the onset of the pandemic, due to the widespread adoption of COVID19 vaccination, the rate of organ donation began to increase again, this system is still under performing. During the years under examination, the rate of deceased kidney donation increased significantly compared to living kidney donation and reached up to 2001 kidney transplantations in 2021. From 2002 to 2019, the rate of liver transplants increased to 12.8. Likewise, the rate of heart transplants increased 8.4‐fold, from 15 to 126 cases during the same time. Conclussion Although a personal choice, the process of organ donation involves medical, legal, ethical, organizational, and social aspects. The trend in increasing donation rates over the past years can be attributed to multiple influences, which include rigorous team efforts in the organ donation and transplantation systems, in addition to creating a donation culture and promoting donation through media platforms. Moreover, we can say that the rising rates of deceased donor transplantation also can drive down rates of commercial living donor transplantation.

Transplantation in Iran

“…We read with great interest the article by Dehghani and colleagues 1 on trends in organ donation and transplantation over past 18 years in Iran. Iran has made significant progress in the last 20 years to build an infrastructure to promote deceased donation from brain death donors.…”

A theory-driven organ donation campaign: a field intervention among university students in Iran

“…Conversely, negative family attitudes toward organ donation significantly hinder the consent process [ 9 ]. Research in Iran has shown that family members often have the final decision-making power regarding the donation of their children’s organs, with the healthcare system playing an essential role in encouraging individuals to register for and carry donor cards [ 10 ].…”

Issues related to organ donation in Iran

“…We also mention in our paper, Iran has an Opt-in consent legislation system. 1 The final decision for organ donation is given by families.…”