Shoura may link organ donor consent with IDs

Two Shoura Council members have endorsed a draft proposition which will allow citizens or residents who wish to donate their organs after death to have their consent shown on their ID card, driving license or passport.
Faisal Shaheen, director-general of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation (SCOT), told local media that the Shoura Council formed a committee to consider the issue. “The initiative enables doctors to pinpoint potential donors,” he explained.
Shaheen said the committee asked SCOT to provide it with enough information on the initiative in order to qualify it for close study. “It will help in rescuing a number of patients on the waiting list for a donor,” he added.
The initiative was submitted more than eight years ago. The committee tasked with looking into the issue includes members from the Passport Department, the Interior Ministry and SCOT.
A card indicating whether the holder wishes to donate his or her organs in case the bearer dies is in use in several countries all over the world.
“This saves the lives of many patients, especially those suffering from kidney failure,” he pointed out.
“The main obstacle in approving this initiative came from representatives on the previous committee who had reservations about including such a fact on official documents.”
Shaheen explained that 30 percent of donors died in traffic accidents, while traffic accidents were the cause for 60 percent of patients that had been declared brain dead. He said that 90 percent of deceased donors had donor cards in their possession.