"Time for legislation" on kidney transplants in Ghana

On July 4th and July 5th, 2023 respectively, two pioneering kidney transplant operations were conducted at KBTH.

The procedures were groundbreaking not only due to the fact that it was the first time a kidney transplant had been performed on the sacred grounds of KBTH but also due to it being performed for the first time by a locally based team of physicians and other healthcare professionals.

The first successful kidney transplant was carried out historically in Boston, United States, in 1954.

Nonetheless, the first kidney transplants at KBTH were carried out in 2008.

A group of medical specialists from Queens Hospital in the UK were partnered with assistance from Transplant Links, an Organization, under the terms of the agreement at the time.

The team included medical professionals with specialized training, including surgeons, nephrologists, anesthetists, and critical care nurses.

These surgeons were flown in from the UK to complete the operations, and some would stay behind to monitor the patients' recovery.

Although these rounds of procedures were beneficial, they fell short of the hospital administration's and the local medical team's vision and goals.

The First Sky Group, one of KBTH's longtime major benefactors, and its Executive Chairman, Eric Seddy Kutortse, pledged to finance the kidney transplant procedures at KBTH, giving the hospital a boost while it remained committed to pursuing the goal of localizing kidney transplantation.

In order to undertake kidney transplants for four patients, the hospital and First Sky Group worked together to successfully bring down the Transplant Links in 2019.

It also laid the groundwork for the new paradigm of localizing kidney transplantation at the KBTH, which signaled the end of bringing in foreign teams.

Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, the Chief Executive of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, had a vision upon taking office to deepen and securely establish tissue transplantation for other organs and areas of the body in addition to kidney transplantation.

The local transplantation team was assembled as a result of the fusion of the visions of Dr. Ampomah Mr. Kutortse and their individual teams.

Prof. J.E. Mensah, Prof. Vincent Boima, Dr. Kwabena Adade, and Prof. Matthew Kyei, and their separate teams, must now receive special recognition as the program's major architects at the KBTH.

While First Sky Group is committed to providing the required finances for the procedures, the local transplant team laboured in its preparatory works, leaving no stone unturned to guarantee nothing but success.

The multi-disciplinary team that ensured the success of the operations and deserves our commendations comprises of nephrologists, surgeons, anaesthetists, critical care doctors and nurses, perioperative nurses, ward nurses, clinical psychologists, pharmacists, dieticians, radiologists and radiographers, cardiologists, biomedical engineers, orderlies, accountants, administrative staff, and other clinical and non-clinical staff.

The team was supported by Dr Rajeev Sood, an experienced Indian transplant surgeon, who also deserves our commendation as he was on hand to play a critical supervisory role.

He was accompanied by an instruments technician.

After the successful first attempt, plans are underway to perform a second round of kidney transplantations at the KBTH this month — August 2023.

 As the procedure picks up and becomes routine, the 1,000 end-stage patients on dialysis across the country may have to exit the tri-weekly dialysis at a point. 

However, the current regime of accepting only donations from family may become a barrier to some patients if no compatible member of the family is found.

Hence, it is essential to assist the hospital with an enabling legislative framework that makes the donation, harvesting, and storage of organs for transplantation possible as the hospital and its partners go forward with institutionalizing kidney and other transplantations locally.

The ministries of Health and Justice, as well as Parliament, must gird their loins to help to provide the required legislation to fully establish this emerging frontier in our healthcare services.

If the necessary legislations are passed, the pain, financial and other difficulties Ghanaians go through in accessing kidney and related transplantation services abroad will reduce to the barest minimum.

For instance, a kidney transplant outside of Ghana will often cost GH 700,000, despite the fact that it can be performed locally at a far lower price.

So, it is desirable and merits assistance from all parties to localize kidney transplants, as is being done at the KBTH at the moment.

In conclusion, the KBTH's groundbreaking achievement came about 70 years after the first kidney transplant in the US.

This accomplishment by our own staff has the potential to significantly lessen the pain of our renal patients and their families.

Additionally, it will help Ghana maintain its position as the region's center for health tourism in West Africa.

Hence, all hands must be on deck to ensure final success.