THE Ministry of Health and Wellness plans to launch a comprehensive kidney transplant programme, with the aim of performing ten transplants by the end of next year.
Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville, with Permanent Secretary Collin Higgs and other health officials, recently met Bahamian physicians Dr Rhea Thurston-Carroll and Dr Vantario Taylor and members of the international non-profit organisation Transplant Links Community (TLC), including CEO Aimee Jewitt-Harris, to discuss the implementation of a living donor kidney transplant programme.
The need for public education about kidney transplants and the establishment of an end stage renal failure registry in The Bahamas were also discussed. In September, Cabinet gave approval for the ministry to commence a hospital facility assessment from its budget. The assessment by the TLC team reported satisfaction that with some instrument upgrades and additional needs assessments, a kidney transplant programme can be successful in The Bahamas, a press release from the Ministry of Health noted.
“Kidney failure and dialysis continues to put a heavy burden on the public health budget,” the Ministry of Health said. “While dialysis remains a viable option for kidney failure treatment, this living donor programme would give patients an improved quality of life and a cost burden relief to the healthcare system. The aim is to have performed ten transplants by the end of 2023 with legislative amendments to the Drug Prescription Act to make the anti-rejection medication readily available at no cost to the patients.”
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