Transplantation Proceedings
Volume 39, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 895-897

Kidney Transplantation: Is There Any Place for Refugees? (Article)

Einollahi B.* , Noorbala M.H. , Kardavani B. , Moghani-Lankarani M. , Assari S. , Simforosh N. , Bagheri N.
  • a Nephrology/Urology Research Center (NURC), Kidney Transplant Department, Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University, Tehran, Iran
  • b Nephrology/Urology Research Center (NURC), Kidney Transplant Department, Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University, Tehran, Iran
  • c Clinical Research Unit, Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University, Tehran, Iran
  • d Clinical Research Unit, Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University, Tehran, Iran
  • e Clinical Research Unit, Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University, Tehran, Iran
  • f Nephrology/Urology Research Center (NURC), Kidney Transplant Department, Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University, Tehran, Iran
  • g Nephrology/Urology Research Center (NURC), Kidney Transplant Department, Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

There are more than 8 million refugees worldwide with the Middle East bearing the brunt. Socioeconomic factors are the major obstacles that refugees encounter when seeking health care in the host country. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that refugees are denied equal opportunities for one of the most sophisticated and expensive medical procedures in the world, kidney transplantation. With respect to transplantation, refugees are caught between a rock and a hard place: as recipients they have to single-handedly clear many hurdles on the arduous road to renal transplantation and as donors they are left unprotected against human organ trafficking. It should be the moral responsibility of the host country to provide this population with a support network. The ways and means of establishing this network should be defined locally; nevertheless, enabling refugees to receive a transplant is the most basic step, which should be followed by the provision of financial support and follow-up facilities in a concerted effort to ensure the continued function of the invaluable graft. It is also necessary that refugees be protected from being an organ reservoir on the black market. There are no precise regional or international data available on kidney transplantation in refugees; among the Middle East Society for Organ Transplantation countries, only Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey have thus far provided data on their respective kidney transplantation regulations and models. Other countries in the region should follow suit and design models tailored to the local needs and conditions. What could, indubitably, be of enormous benefit in the long term is the establishment of an international committee on transplantation in refugees. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

refugee kidney donor Cost benefit analysis Costs and Cost Analysis follow up human Refugees Middle East medical ethics priority journal social support Iran kidney function health care cost Humans Socioeconomic Factors socioeconomics immunosuppressive agent Article Kidney Failure, Chronic kidney failure Kidney Transplantation accuracy health care facility
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-34248554157&doi=10.1016%2fj.transproceed.2007.03.095&partnerID=40&md5=86e39c78f7f74c2d1d0cda7b62ae6990
DOI: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2007.03.095
ISSN: 00411345
Cited by: 10
Original Language: English