Iran sees promising increase in organ donation index
According to the Fars news agency, Amir-Hessam Alirezaei, the director of the Ministry of Health’s Transplant Management and Disease Treatment Center, has reported a substantial improvement in the country’s organ donation index. The index has risen from 7.8 per one million people in 2020-2021 to 12.2 in 2022-2023.
Alirezaei revealed that the number of organ donations in the country increased from 645 in 2020-2021 to 928 in 2021-2022, and further rose to 1,016 in 2022-2023. He also highlighted the current state of transplant facilities in the country, which includes 30 kidney transplant departments, 11 liver transplant departments, 3 lung transplant departments, 4 pancreas transplant departments, 18 bone marrow transplant departments, 22 procurement centers, and 35 transplant identification centers.
Since the inception of the transplant program, kidney transplants have been the most common, with 40,095 cases recorded. Alirezaei noted that the country experiences 5,000 to 8,000 brain deaths annually, with 2,500 to 4,000 of these cases being suitable for transplantation.
With 18,000 patients in need of organ transplants, 1,016 organ donations were performed in 2022-2023. Alirezaei emphasized the three pillars of organ donation as science, structure, and culture, attributing 20 percent to science, 30 percent to structure, and 50 percent to culture.
In addition to the transplant program, Alirezaei discussed the establishment of infertility treatment centers across the country. All provinces now have level three infertility centers, totaling 109 centers, including 44 government-run, 10 non-governmental and affiliated organizations, and 55 private centers. Furthermore, 40 level two infertility treatment centers operate within 55 universities of medical sciences.
These services encompass level one consultations, examinations, and basic paraclinical procedures; level two infertile couple evaluations, diagnosis of infertility causes, and intrauterine insemination (IUI); and level three subspecialized infertility services, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and advanced endometriosis surgeries.