Kazakhstan’s Minister of Healthcare to become a deceased donor

Kazakh Minister of Healthcare Akmaral Alnazarova publicly announced her decision to consent to deceased donation and called for an open discussion of the issue, El.kz reports

The Minister of Healthcare noted that she had made the decision to become a deceased donor some time ago and considered it important to speak about it publicly. According to her, the issue concerns not only healthcare professionals, as each person may one day face the need to make such a decision.

“Today, I would like to publicly announce a decision that I made some time ago – to formally register my consent to deceased organ donation. I believe it is important to speak openly about this. Not because I am the Minister of Healthcare, but because each of us may one day face the need to make such a decision, either for ourselves or for a loved one. Deceased donation provides an opportunity to help people who have a chance to live after one’s death. To date, approximately 184,000 people in Kazakhstan have already registered their consent through eGov. The number of people giving consent continues to grow,” the Minister emphasized.

According to Akmaral Alnazarova, behind the statistics on people awaiting organ transplantation are individual human stories and hopes. At present, several thousand people in Kazakhstan are waiting for transplants and require different types of donor organs.

“Behind every figure on the waiting list are hopes of preserving a fragile life. Today, 4,867 of our fellow citizens are awaiting transplantation: 4,311 are waiting for a kidney transplant, 212 for a heart transplant, 314 for a liver transplant, and 30 for a lung transplant,” the Minister of Healthcare noted.

The Minister also emphasized that the development of deceased donation requires the involvement of not only the healthcare system. According to her, public trust, open dialogue and an informed personal choice by citizens play an important role in this area.

“We continue to emphasize that the development of deceased donation is not the responsibility of the healthcare system. It is a matter of public trust, open dialogue and the informed decision of each individual,” Akmaral Alnazarova stressed.