1. Posted on March 21, 2011
HMC and Supreme Council of Health host team from United Network for Organ Sharing
A team from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) conducted a site visit at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) on
March 7-10 as part of activities in support of HMC and the Supreme Council of Health’s (SCH) efforts to develop organ
transplant programs in Qatar. The UNOS is a private, non-profit organization that has a contract with the United States
federal government to run the US organ transplant network. The organization brings togetherspecialists from multiple fields
intersecting transplantation to help develop transplant programs in the US and around the world.
“At HMC and the SCH, there are many plans to promote organ donation and to develop organ transplantation,” said Dr
Riadh Fadhil, Senior Consultant of Urology and Transplant Surgery at HMC. “In implementing these plans,we aim for the
best practice in the field of training, and the UNOS is the best in the field in terms of organizational expertise and oversight
of registration, donation,transplantation outcome, and organ allocation. We sought the help and support of the UNOS in
order to ensure that our protocols,guidelines, staffing and resources are in accordance with world class standards.
“The UNOS experience in organizing donorregistry and research database is superior, and they will assist us in starting our
own community-based donor registry. This registry will have a great impact on organ donation in Qatar – which is the main
challenge in the progress of organ transplant programs,” added Dr Fadhil. “Few countries besides those in Europe and the US
have donorregistries. In countries where the donorregistry is mature and well-established, organ donation is at a top rate.”
The organ donorregistry, to be created in accordance with the Organ Transplant Law Number 21 and the Doha Donation
Accord, will enable all inhabitants of Qatar to indicate their consent,through the registry, to organ donation after death.
HMC currently offers kidney and corneal transplant programs, and is in the process ofstarting a liver transplant program. Dr
Fadhil explained that an increase in deceased organ donation will lead to the development of other organ transplant programs ,
such as those for liver, pancreas and intestine transplant.The development of more transplant programs will in turn
necessitate organized documentation to facilitate the study of outcomes and help develop research capabilities. To achieve
this, HMC is also working on the creation of a scientific research database with the help of the UNOS.
Kevin Myer, Business Director of the UNOS Center for Transplant SystemExcellence said, “The UNOS will assist with the
development of information technology and information systems to support the development of the organ donation and
transplant programs in Qatar. One of our major priorities is to assist in the development of the donorregistry, and second, to
work with the team here to create a research database and othermechanisms to help with the ongoing development of the
transplantation programs.”
“In the US our programs are transplanting almost 25,000 organs per year, and we want to share our knowledge and
experience in the development of information technology processes and policies, and in donation improvement practices and
efforts, to aid the development of the programs here,” said Myer. He praised the level of support from both HMC and the
Qatari government towards the progress of organ transplantation and the implementation of the Doha Donation Accord,
which he said is “world class and leading, and serves as an example for the rest of the world to follow.”
“The challenges that Qatar faces are the same that the US faces. Public awareness and education, cultural differences – all
pertain to the challenge of donation worldwide. Our experience will help Qatar address some of those challenges,”
said Frank Gilg, Director, Commercial Operations and Sales for UNOS. The UNOS team visiting HMC also included John
Piano, Chief Executive of Transplant Connect – a Southern California-based developer of medical technology and
communications systems. Transplant Connect and Transplant Informatics Institute support the UNOS's international
transplantation efforts by providing consulting and technology services for the development of transplant systems in other
countries.