Advances in raising awareness about multiple organ donation

On June 11, something happened that hadn't happened in more than 10 years at the Old Fray Antonio Alcalde Civil Hospital: in just one week, three multi-organ and multi-tissue donations were recorded , benefiting nine people , one of them a pediatric patient in Mexico City.

Thanks to the donation of the family of a brain-dead teenager, both kidneys, corneas, and a liver were procured. Four patients will finally receive transplants at the Fray Antonio Alcalde Hospital, while the liver will go to a minor at the Federico Gómez Hospital in the capital.

The head of the Transplant Unit at this hospital, Marco Antonio Covarrubias Velasco, explained that this donation is the result of the collaborative efforts of the neurosurgery, emergency room, intensive care, radiology, laboratory, transplant unit, psychology, nursing, and administrative staff.

The doctor explained that once a potential donor is identified, the process of convincing the family begins, always with respect. Laboratory tests are also performed to find the ideal candidate on the waiting list who is suitable to receive organs and/or tissues. They even work with other hospitals to optimize each donation, ensuring that donations that cannot be used in Jalisco can be transferred to other states in Mexico.

“Regarding donor and organ generation, we are a self-sufficient hospital. The transplants we perform here are done because we have the capacity. Although there were a few months without significant activity, it's something that has always been happening at the hospital,” Covarrubias Velasco commented.

For his part, the hospital coordinator of the Dr. Juan I. Menchaca New Civil Hospital of Guadalajara, Hélix Ivan Barajas Calderón, indicated that so far this year there have been two multi-organ donations and three tissue donations, in which a liver, two kidneys, and corneas were procured, benefiting five people.

By 2025, the doctor said, he expects to receive at least 50 multi-organ and tissue donations.

"We have 100 percent capacity, but it will depend on the interview we have to conduct with the family, and whether they have the openness and socialization to say yes to the donation," the doctor said.

"We need to raise awareness among the Jalisco community about all the processes and remove the taboos and misinformation that society has," he concluded.

Achieving 60 multi-organ donations is the goal of the Old Civil Hospital

In a good year, between 10 and 15 multi-organ donations are achieved at the Antiguo Hospital Civil. However, the head of the Transplant Unit at this hospital, Marco Antonio Covarrubias Velasco, has higher expectations for 2025: that the transplant program will procure organs and tissues from 60 brain-dead patients.

"Given the characteristics of the institution and the requirements, this figure is realistic and makes a difference."

A multi-organ donation can save up to eight lives.

"A single donor can save up to eight lives and improve the health of 75 patients. It's an act of love and humanity," said Rosa Erro Aboytia, director general of the National Transplant Center (CENATRA).

In Jalisco, Mexico, and around the world, kidney transplants are a public health issue, commented Dr. Marco Antonio Covarrubias Velasco. “It represents a tremendous health and social burden. Kidney transplants are the most commonly required transplant both in Jalisco and the rest of the country, followed by cornea, liver, and other tissues. But kidney transplants are the ones with which we can have the greatest social impact on communities.”

For his part, Dr. Hélix Ivan Barajas Calderón stated that a tissue donation, depending on the procurement and the healthcare professional, can benefit up to 350 people, and he urged people to educate themselves on the importance of transplants.

"Give them information. Let them reach out to the hospital community that has an organ donation committee so they can talk to them, explain the guidelines (for donating), and also remove those taboos and misinformation," he concluded.

Advances in the sector