Asian Transplant Congress to be held from November 29

The 9th Congress of Asian Society of Transplantation (Cast), hosted by Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), will be held in Karachi from November 29 to December 2, 2005.
This was announced by the chairman of organising committee of Cast and SIUT, Dr S Adib-ul-Hasan Rizvi, at a press conference here on Tuesday.
It was also announced that the Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture (CBEC) Pakistan is also organising international conference and workshop on 'Fundamentals of Research Ethics: International and Regional Perspectives' during the Cast here on November 28 to 29, 2005.
Dr Rizvi said that Asian Society of Transplantation is a forum for Asian countries to discuss problems related to organs transplantation among them and with scientists with more experience and expertise from advanced regions of the world.
An international meeting is held every three years for this purpose. Pakistan was selected as the venue for the 9th Congress this year and SIUT would play host, he added.
Major issues on kidney and organ transplantation will be discussed in this meeting and experts from 24 countries will participate, bringing with them a vast pool of knowledge, research and technology.
Dr Rizvi said that now the figures of patient and graft survival in kidney transplantation are 98 and 92 percent, respectively. Despite the encouraging results, the required number of organs is not available, even in the developed countries.
The estimated transplants needed in the developed countries amount to 73,000 kidneys, 22000 livers, 20,000 hearts and 7000 lungs. The developing countries have a wrong scenario. Kidneys required are 350,000, livers 140,000, hearts 85000, and 33000 lungs. Only 36 percent of the requirement is fulfilled in the developed regions whereas the developing countries have 1.6 percent of the failing organs replaced.
Pakistan faces a grave situation. The kidney failure cases are more than 100 per million population. Approximately 150,000 patients develop kidney failure every year. Dialysis is one mode of renal replacement but there are only 120 dialysis centres, most of them charging enormous amounts of money which is beyond the reach of a common man.
He said that Pakistan is the only Muslim country with no Cadaver law and no curb on organ sale despite a high prevalence of end stage renal diseases.
Dr Farhat Moazim, Dr Anwar Naqvi and others were also present on this occasion.