Solid-organ transplant activity in MESOT countries.

MESOT members are a dynamic force in drafting, finalizing, propagating, gain, and enforcing the ethical charter in Transplantation (the Istanbul Declaration). In accordance with the Declaration’s guiding principles: “Oversight requires a national or regional registry to record deceased and living donor transplants”; the MESOT is set to establish a regional transplant registry whose purpose is (1) to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each center. “Countries with well-established deceased-donor transplant programs are encouraged to share information, expertise, and technology with countries seeking to improve their organ donation efforts; (2) to address these needs; and (3) to establish programs that empower the transplant programs in all regional countries by joining a comprehensive and accepted data registry system. This system is necessary for the MESOT country, and is not inconsistent with national self-sufficiency so long as the collaboration (i) protects the vulnerable population, (ii) promotes equality between donor and recipient populations, and (iii) does not violate the principles set forth by the Istanbul Declaration. Finally, it should (4) establish a unified criterion for organ donation and organ sharing. Establishing the registry requires that each country should have its own National Registry and voluntarily contributes to the regional registry, the MESOT. The reporting may be performed directly by the center or via the National Registry. To do this, a unified reporting system is needed for both the donor and the recipient. The reporting system should be based on a computer system that acts as a virtual office. The MESOT has established a committee to start such a Registry. The duties of the committee are based on a design to collect the data, to oversee of data implementation and collection, and finally, to analyze and report data (preferably at each MESOT Congress) in a regular manner. This paper describes the current and historical solid-organ transplant programs in each of the MESOT countries. The data were collected voluntarily and verified by the countries.