In Colombia, an average of 3,000 people are on the waiting list to receive an organ, 15% of that number are children, hence the importance of becoming aware that donating is more than an altruistic act, it is thinking that by doing so you are giving the possibility to another person to continue living or to improve their quality of life.
Law 1805 of 2016 establishes that everyone can be organ and tissue donors regardless of age, race, sex or religious belief; In this way, people are allowed to decide in life to donate their organs and tissues at the time of their death. But, this law also allows people to decide not to donate, a determination that must be made through a legal document in which they state their desire, which must be sent to the National Institute of Health and the EPS.
There are two types of donors, living and deceased donors, as explained by Dr. Astrid Castaño Bedoya, organ and tissue donation coordinator at the Grupo Quirónsalud Clinic, who specifies that when you are alive you can donate blood, bone marrow , a kidney to a relative or a close person, part of the liver, as well as small segments of the lung. “In the case of the deceased person, you can donate a heart, liver, lungs, pancreas, intestine, musculoskeletal tissue and eye tissue, as well as kidneys and heart valves, among others.”
The invitation from specialists and health institutions is to discuss the issue with the family, “that the willingness to donate be known by their close circle, since this guarantees that this desire to help another is fulfilled,” he mentions.
Waiting lists and selection of recipients
The National Network for Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation, made up of different entities in the country that are related to donation and transplantation, have selection processes, which are aimed at protecting the life and integrity of the recipient.
“There are some clinical characteristics and laboratory tests that must be carried out before the process to determine if it can finally be donated. We could all be donors, but in the end not all of us managed to do so”, says the specialist.
The law in Colombia establishes that living donors can be those related to the patient, that is, relatives and in some cases close people, “before the process, assessments are made, including psychological and psychiatric, where they work with the donor, the recipient and his family” mentions Dr. Castaño Bedoya.
In the organ donation process, the living donor goes through a medical evaluation where compatibility is defined through tests, to which is added psychological and psychosocial monitoring, which contributes to the entire donation process and meets the benefit to the receiver.
What can be donated?
- Organs: heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, intestine, pancreas.
- Tissues: corneas, blood, bone marrow, blood vessels, eyeball, skin, bones, heart valves, tendons, and cartilage.
- Corneas and ocular tissue.
- Bones and tendons.
Donation Myths
- In Colombia there is no organ trafficking.
- Being of any religion does not prevent you from donating.
- The body does not have any external alteration.
- The recipient has no emotional effects from the giver.
- The donation is an altruistic act, there is no payment for donating.
Clínica Grupo Quirónsalud has an Organ and Tissue Transplant Unit, made up of a multidisciplinary team of specialists, as well as advanced technology that allows highly complex interventions to be carried out and that places us as one of the best institutions at the regional level. and national.