Citizens of Uganda who have been spending exorbitant amounts of money on organ transplants abroad can now breathe a sigh of relief following the commissioning of similar services in the country.
Speaking at the commissioning of the transplant theatre at Lubaga Hospital yesterday, the Director General of Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Henry Mwebesa, revealed that health facilities such as Lubaga and Mulago National Referral Hospital will soon commence organ and tissue transplants.
He said they are just now awaiting the Uganda Organ Donation and Organ Transplant Council to assess the facility to ensure that it is up to standards.
Some of the requirements for organ transplant centres include two theatres; one for the donor and the other for the patient; a standard intensive care unit; a recovery room; laboratories; and specialists to perform transplants.
Dr Mwebesa said organ transplants done at Mulago will be free of charge, while those in private hospitals will be done at a cost less than what Ugandans have been spending abroad, which is in the range of Shs60m.
He, however, said the hospitals that are ready to undertake organ and tissue transplants will do so after they have been cleared by the Organ Transplant Council to be set up by the Health Minister.
“A law was put in place and assented to by the President on March 15; it became effective on August 1, 2023, but we must have a council to assess the readiness of these hospitals,” Dr Mwebesa said.
He said the experts who will man the council have already been proposed and await approval by Cabinet.
He said the new development will relieve Ugandans of the high cost of organ transplants abroad.
“I have been clearing about six patients who need to undergo kidney transplants on a weekly basis, and from the documents, I see one patient requires $ 17,000 (about Shs60 million) for the transplant alone,” Dr Mwebesa said.
He also said the strict guidelines in the organ transplant law will help prevent any malpractice.
Dr Michael Okello, the director of the Organ Transplant Theatre at Lubaga Hospital, said once they are cleared by the council, they will offer kidney, liver, and cornea transplants.
Dr Okello said since the current law requires organs to be extracted from living donors, corneas will be imported until the government grants them permission to harvest corneas from dead bodies.
Dr Julius Luyimbazi, the executive director of Lubaga Hospital, said a big number of patients in various hospitals are on dialysis, which is quite expensive, and that bringing organ transplant services closer would relieve them of the burden.
Kampala Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere said organ transplants done abroad have been a preserve for the wealthy Ugandans and that the new initiative would enable the poor to access similar services in Uganda.
Dr Frank Asiimwe, a consultant urologist and transplant surgeon at Mulago National Referral Hospital, who doubles as the President of the Association of Surgeons in Uganda, said they would form a national team of surgeons that would work together to perform transplants.