Kidney transplantation in the Middle East

Aims: To delineate the kidney transplantation programs in the Middle East and to provide a comparative summary with other international datasets where deemed appropriate. Patients and methods: Data regarding kidney transplantation as the treatment of choice amongst renal replacement therapies in different countries in the Middle East was analyzed from 2004 to 2013. The number of kidney transplants and the source of kidneys were important topics of comparison. All data was collected from published reports and international registries. Results: Eight of 23 countries in the Middle East had active kidney transplantation programs from both living and deceased donors in 2013. The kidney transplantation rate in 2013 was 11.5 per million population in the Middle East compared with 31.68 in America, 27.38 in Europe, 5.68 in the Western Pacific, 3.38 in South Asia, and 0.5 in Africa. The proportion of kidney transplants from deceased donors was 69.5%, 63.1%, 60.9%, 30.2%, 19.4%, and 6.2% in Europe, America, the Western Pacific, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa, respectively. Conclusions: Public education on the subject of brain death and cadaveric organs as a reliable source of saving lives and provision of better infrastructure could increase the rate of kidney transplantation from brain-dead donors. Lack of funds and a negative attitudes towards organ donation are the main barriers in the Middle East.