Düzce University Faculty of Medicine Hospital Organ and Tissue Donation Unit Coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. İlknur Suidiye Yorulmaz drew attention to the importance of organ donation and said that people with damaged vital organs should be given a second chance at life.
Making statements on the occasion of November 3-9 Organ Donation Week, Assoc. Prof. Dr. İlknur Suidiye Yorulmaz said that people of all ages with life-threatening diseases or damaged vital organs should be given a second chance at life. Stating that patients waiting for organ donation will experience a more bearable process in the light of the hope of having a new organ in the physical and psychological traumas they experience, Yorulmaz said, “Other donated tissues such as corneas, tendons and bones can restore vision, movement and other physical functions, granting a comfortable life. Organ donation is an ideal starting point for the individuals who make up the society to empathize with the difficulties experienced by other individuals, and in this way, social solidarity can be restructured and restructured, and this is an ideal starting point to reinforce it more and more every year.”
Referring to Turkey's place in the world ranking in organ donation, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yorulmaz said, “The global database on donation and organ transplantation includes worldwide data on organ donation and organ transplantation activities obtained from official sources. Accordingly, the number of donors used after brain death, that is, the number of cadaveric organ donors in 2023, when death is determined according to neurological criteria, is 9,809 donors in the USA, which ranks first, 4,529 donors in China, which ranks second, and 3,299 donors in Brazil, which ranks third, while Turkey ranks 22nd with 190 donors.” He stated that this ranking is not a satisfactory ranking for our country.
“Sufficient awareness has not been reached in organ donation”
Emphasizing that the society has not reached sufficient awareness about organ donation, Yorulmaz said, “It is possible for societies equipped with superstitions, insecurities, doubts and ignorance to develop a qualified form of behavior such as solidarity. The behavior of the society is in the direction of not supporting organ donation. The biggest factor causing this result is fear. Individual fears, social fears, fears brought about by the belief system, legal fears, fears caused by lack of trust are among these, and factors such as denial and ignoring play a decisive role in organ donation.”
Steps to be followed by those who want to donate organs
Explaining how those who want to donate organs should follow the process, Assoc. Prof. Dr. İlknur Suidiye Yorulmaz said, “In order to donate your organs to be used after death, you can apply to the organ donation units of hospitals, coordinatorships or Turkey Organ Transplant Foundation, declaring your organ donation request in the presence of two witnesses, sign the organ donation form and obtain an organ donation card. It is important to inform your family in order to avoid any confusion later on. Another important point that should be emphasized here is that you can cancel your organ donor card at any time by applying to a hospital with a donation unit.”
“Organ transplants are among the greatest advances in modern medicine”
Stating that organ transplants are one of the greatest advances in modern medicine, Yorulmaz said: “It was pioneered in the 1960s and continues to save the lives of tens of thousands of people every year. There are hundreds of thousands of people on organ transplant waiting lists worldwide and sadly, every 9 minutes, a new person is added to this list. From this point of view, it seems that every individual in our society can qualify for this list at any time. In this pool equation, unfortunately, it is quite clear that the problem that needs to be solved urgently is to increase the number of organ donations and organ transplants.”
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