We need legislation for cornea transplant – President of Ophthalmological Society

The president of the Ophthalmological Society of Ghana, Dr. Dziffa Ofori-Adjei, alongside experts in the medical field, are rallying for the establishment of legislation to support and regulate organ transplants in the country.

Speaking on GhanaWeb’s Lowdown, Dr. Dziffa Ofori-Adjei underscored the importance of having legislation that controls cornea donation and transplants in Ghana.

“Unlike kidney transplant, where most of the time you may a get a live donor, in cornea transplant it is a dead donor that would give you the cornea. So, before a person dies, they would usually sign and say they want to give out part of their organs for donation. So that is where a cornea transplant comes in. So, we need legislation to back that," she said.

According to Dr. Ofori-Adjei, due to the critical time window for cornea harvesting after a person's passing, having a legal framework will grant practitioners permission to harvest enough corneas to help persons who are visually impaired.

“When one dies, it is within a short period of time with which the cornea has to be taken out otherwise it is not useful again. That is where the legislation is very important,” she explained.

“Because it will give us the surgeons permission so that when someone is dead, or the person is brain dead we can go ahead and harvest an organ like that cornea.

“Once you get this cornea transplant yours are as new as you can imagine. So, some people who are completely blind get restoration of sight just by the cornea transplant,” she emphasised.

The absence of specific regulations pertaining to cornea transplants has hindered the progress of this essential medical practice in Ghana.

The call for legislation is driven by the need to streamline the process and ensure that medical professionals have the legal framework to ethically and efficiently conduct cornea transplant procedures.

Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.

NW/DAG

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