53-year old patient died from cerebral infarction and saved lives of other four patients. A 23-year old man acquired in chance in life – doctors transplanted the deceased woman’s heart into his body. Other organs were given to three other patients.

Historic Event

A complicated surgery lasted for 6 years. The operation was performed by Kazakhstan’s leading cardiac surgeon Yuri Pya, leader of the National Scientific and Cardio-Surgery Center. 

Director of a Cardiac Surgery Department in an Almaty medical center, Rustem Tuleutayev reported that a 53-year old woman from Almaty became a donor of organs. She died after her second cerebral infarction, resulting in the death of the brain. 

“To the merit of consent expressed by her relatives, on 13^th of July, we rescued a 23-year old man with cardiomyopathy. When he was 13 years old, he underwent an infected valve replacement surgery. His disease was progressing and other types of surgery were not possible, while further life without transplantation was not possible” – Mr. Tuleutayev said.

Today, heart transplantation is the most effective interference for cardiac distress. Because of transplantation, patients acquire chances to continue the full-fledged life.

The deceased woman’s liver and kidneys also saved lives.

The said operation is one grand achievement for Kazakhstan transplantation. At present, some 4 thousand citizens of Kazakhstan are lined up for transplantation. 147 of them need heart transplantation. 

Religion is Not Contra …

Every citizen of Kazakhstan can avail themselves of an appropriate option in the Egov – electronic government system, to confirm the agreement or refusal for their organs to be used for transplantation, after their death. As of today, 30 thousand citizens of Kazakhstan have filed their agreements (3.5 thousand) or refusals.

Transplantologists say, it is a good start, because it shows the life attitude. Practice shows, that such an important decision is made by people next of kin of those deceased. As a rule, 90-99% refuse to authorize the transplantation of their deceased relatives’ organs in other people.

Last year, only four families agreed to authorize donorship, but we need to somehow seek ways out of the complicated situation. That is why, 93% of all donors are the living ones. As a rule, they are the relatives of those, who need donor organs. They can give kidneys or parts of their livers, and nothing more, while a deceased can help 4 to 8 patients. Kazakhstan citizens fear to agree, because they have concerns that they will be “disassembled”, while living. 

The presumption of agreement to be a donor after death could improve the situation. That means, that a person who did not file their refusal, while alive, will by default become a donor, bypassing agreement from relatives. Earlier, some lobbies in Kazakhstan tried to push that initiative legally, but the ethical considerations outweighed it.

In countries, like USA and Spain that is no issue, at all. There are some 45 donors per one million there.  People realize the importance of that and agree to become donors.

Religion and personal beliefs stop citizens of Kazakhstan following the example of other countries. Our people think that “the way we come, the way we leave this world”, although Islam and Christianity show positive attitude to donorship.

Deficit Causes Crime?

There were attempts to establish the institution of commercial donorship in Kazakhstan, so to allow our people to sell their organs to make money. The initiator of that idea was MP Guldara Nurumova, but her proposal was rejected. Medical community rejected that proposal with a big portion of dissatisfaction making references to the Criminal Code and Istanbul Declaration on Organ Donorship and Transplantation, in which, it is written that there cannot be any commercial donorship.

Kazakhstan medical experts fear criminalization of the donorship. Taking in consideration high corruption in this country, such a scenario is actually pretty much possible. 

A Kazakh law specialist Bolat Kabylov once expressed his opinion. He thinks that after death, organs may be transplanted not to those who really need them. Given that, people of Kazakhstan are ones who can resolve that problem. For that, they need to resolve one fundamental conflict – on one side, people do not want to become donors, on the other side – they expect organs from compatriots.