Valle del Cauca and the region are leaders in tissue and organ donation

For the second consecutive year, Valle del Cauca, together with Quindío, Risaralda, Cauca and Nariño, ranked first in the rate of organ and tissue donors nationwide, during the year 2021.

This can be seen from the annual report ‘Colombian network of donations and transplants’, of the National Institute of Health, according to which these departments, grouped in Regional 3, reported a donation rate of 7.7 donors per million inhabitants, the highest in Colombia, followed by regional 2 (Antioquia) and 1 (Bogotá).

The areas in question, led by the Valley, have registered 71 donors, which correspond to 26% of the national total, and thanks to the generosity of families it has been possible to carry out 248 transplants.

Similarly, for the third consecutive year, the Valley achieved the highest rate nationwide, reaching 13.6 donors per million population, a place that historically occupied Antioquia. In relation to the capital of the Valley, the Valle del Lili Foundation, through its Donations and Transplants Functional Unit, was ranked, for the tenth year, as the Institution that performed the highest number of transplants in Colombia, with (10, 1%), distributed in 101 kidney, 40 liver, 4 lung, 5 combined kidney and pancreas and 1 combined liver-intestine-pancreas.

In 2021 there were 710 potential donors in Colombia, which indicates an increase compared to 2020 of 17.9%. The main donor causes of death were: cerebrovascular accident (42.3%) and head trauma (37.7%).

“It is very satisfying that after having had a 55% reduction in donation activity, due to the pandemic and the crisis resulting from the national strike, today we not only recover, but we also have a positive balance of 2.9% compared to the ‘year 2020 ”, specifies Dr. David Felipe Restrepo Estrada, operational coordinator of donation and transplantation.

Undoubtedly, the protagonism of Region 3 is only possible thanks to the generosity of families who, despite the pain of the death of a loved one, say yes to the donation to save patients who are waiting for an organ to save their lives.

Because without donors there are no transplants. “We may have the best surgeons, the best technology and the best institutions, but if people refuse to donate, we can’t do anything. For this reason, our gratitude goes to the donor families, who, moreover, must have more time to receive the body of their loved one, as well as to clarify their concerns and receive the humanized accompaniment that we offer them in this process “, says the Doctor Restrepo Estrada.

For Dr. John Bernardo Ortiz Micolta, operational coordinator of Donations and Transplants of the Valle del Lili Foundation, “transplants are an act full of kindness and science. For the generosity of the people who decide to donate an organ of their family member, and because every time we have the opportunity to perform a transplant, almost 150 professionals participate, not only in the health part, but also in the operational and administrative part ”.

During 2021, the National Donation and Transplant Network was alerted 2,613 times by potential donors. Of these, 710 were declared brain dead and of these, only 269 became actual donors. An increase of 20.7% is observed compared to the previous year.

Teamwork

Starting from the altruistic gesture of the donor families, reaching the first place in Colombia for the highest donation rate, and for the second consecutive year, it is due to the hard work of doctors, nurses and health personnel of the institutions where potential donors are reported and to the various IPS transplanters, including, in addition to the Valle del Lili Foundation, the Imbanaco Clinic and the Dime Neurocardiovascular Clinic.

Added to this systematic work are campaigns to promote the culture of donation, among which the Fundación Valle del Lili is a champion with its Hospital Donante program. Through this initiative, every Lili Citizen receives training on donation and transplantation, to become an informed disseminator of the culture of donation.

Currently, they have joined efforts with an alliance between Fundación Valle del Lili and Clínica Imbanaco to recommend and implement these educational strategies on donation and transplantation in other healthcare institutions, seeking to replicate the Donor Hospital model.

For Dr. Mauricio Millán Lozano, head of the Donations and Transplants Functional Unit, “the leadership of the Valle del Lili Foundation at the national level as a donor hospital is due to the work of the entire institution. It is thanks to the commitment of doctors, health and administrative staff in the emergency room, intensive care and all services and areas, from the moment a possible donor and a recipient patient enters”.

More education versus donation

Colombia has 7.7 donors per million inhabitants, a low rate compared to countries such as Brazil and Argentina, whose percentage is 13.8 donors per million inhabitants. And much lower than the 40.8 donors per million inhabitants recorded in Spain.

“I don’t think that the Colombian heart is less generous than that of the Brazilian, Argentine or Spanish; what sets us apart is education, the beliefs we hold about death and the myths that still persist in many people,” adds Dr. David Felipe Restrepo Estrada.

Colombia is a country with the possibility of generating donors every day, however the families who say yes to donation are still few. Therefore, the call is to take this recognition as an incentive to increase donation rates nationwide. This way more children and adults on the waiting list will get a second chance at life.

Doctor Mauricio Millan Lozano

Head of the Functional Unit of Donations and Transplants Fundación Valle del Lili

Thanks to the Institution’s staff for their work, awareness and commitment in favor of organ and tissue donation and transplantation, which allows us to be the first transplant IPS in the country”.

Dr. Giovanni Bernardo Ortiz Micolta

Special for El País

Dr. Giovanni Bernardo Ortiz Micolta

Operational coordinator of donations and transplants Fundación Valle del Lili

When there is a refusal to donate, not only is it inevitable that a loved one will die, but other people may also die waiting for that one chance.

Dr. David Felipe Restrepo Estrada

Special for El País

Dr. David Felipe Restrepo Estrada

Operational coordinator of donation and transplant Fundación Valle del Lili

Better education is needed to achieve better donation rates, and we understand that at any given time, we or a family member could be on the waiting list.”

-Due to the prevalence of diseases such as diabetes, the kidney is the most required.

While in 2020 there were 517 transplants, in 2021 the number rose to 606.

– There were 194 liver transplants nationwide in 2020 and 223 in 2021.

-As for the heart, 66 were transplanted in 2020 and 69 the following year.

-The figure for lung was 12 in 2020 and nearly doubled the following year, with 22 transplants.

-As regards the combined kidney-pancreas transplant, 4 implants were performed in 2020 and 12 operations in 2021.

-Combined kidney and liver transplants remained at 5 during these years.