United Arab Emirates' Future Perspective: Converting Potential Organ Donors Into Actual Organ Donors in an Academic Setting.

Objectives: The wide gap between organ demand and supply has been exponentially increasing worldwide, resulting in longer wait lists for patients. In response, a few countries have started deceased-donor programs. Thus, establishing national self-sufficiency and optimizing the deceased donation process are crucial steps. Recently, a deceased-donor program was initiated in the United Arab Emirates, and a process is being implemented to enhance the donation rate and to decrease the number of missed organ donors. This study aimed to estimate the number of potential brain-dead donors and eligible donors who are medically suitable and have been declared dead based on neurologic criteria. Additionally, the study aimed to highlight latent obstacles that could add valuable strategic input for establishing a successful organ donation process for new programs.

Materials And Methods: For this retrospective study, we reviewed all patients who died at various intensive care units at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (Abu Dhabi, UAE) from January 2018 to December 2018. Patients were classified as potential donors when meeting the neurologic criteria of brain dead and as eligible donors if no medical contraindication was shown. Barriers to donation were analyzed systematically.

Results: In 2018, 411 inpatient deaths were recorded. Of the 39 patients identified as potentially brain dead, 25 were confirmed as brain dead, with 20 of these confirmed as eligible donors. However, none were converted to actual donors. The lack of proper identification and referral of potential organ donors constituted significant obstacles to the organ donation process.

Conclusions: This study described the potential organ donation program of our hospital and suggested a systemic approachthattargets the system,organ/donor factors, and consent process to improve the donor conversion rate. New programs might benefit highly from in-house organ donation coordinators, the education and proactive collaboration of hospital staff, and organizational support and management.