The Ministry of Health reported on the progress of organ donation and
transplantation in Kazakhstan. Currently, the country has more than 40 donor
hospitals and seven transplant centers. Since the beginning of the year, around
150 transplant operations have been performed. However, the need for donor
organs remains acute: over 4,000 people, including 120 children, are on the
waiting list. To address this issue, the ministry is improving digital tools for
registering consent or refusal for posthumous organ donation through the
e-government portal. In Kazakhstan, citizens aged 18 to 65 – about 10 million people – can become potential donors.
«This year, 131 potential
donors – those diagnosed with brain death – were registered. Unfortunately, only 10 of them gave consent. If we compare the
past three years, 33,000 people were registered on the eGov portal in 2023. Today, 134,000 people have registered their will, including 10,000 who
consented. The number of consents has tripled compared to 2023,» said Nazgul Zhangeldina, Acting Director of the
Republican Center for Coordination of Transplantation and High-Tech Medical
Services.
Along with awareness campaigns, Kazakhstan is strengthening international
cooperation in transplantation and introducing new technologies. This year,
construction began in Astana on a plant to produce equipment capable of keeping
donor organs viable outside the body for up to 24 hours. It is expected to
increase transplant success rates and enable the transportation of organs to
any region of the country and even abroad. The project, supported by Kazakh investors, will
become the first enterprise in Central Asia to manufacture such technology.
«Our ALEM development is a major
breakthrough. The faster we deliver organs to transplant centers, the better: hearts
must be transplanted within four hours, livers within six, and kidneys within 12. These devices help extend
preservation time and reduce cold ischemia, especially when combined with air
ambulance transport,» shared Kairat Imanbayev, Head of the Department for Coordination of
Transplantation and Allocation of Donor Organs at the Republican Center for
Coordination of Transplantation and High-Tech Medical Services.
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