Suriname to conduct their first kidney transplant

Suriname's health authorities are planning the country's first kidney transplant this week.

The procedures will be carried out by a team from the Netherlands led by Dr Mirza Idu and Professor Dr Frederike Bemelman, with certain other medical professionals from the Academic Hospital Paramaribo assisting them (AZP).

Amar Ramadhin, the Minister of Health, recently signed a partnership agreement between Amsterdam UMC and Suriname, paving the way for the transplant program's execution.

With 17,000 staff, Amsterdam UMC is the biggest kidney transplant clinic in the Netherlands.

The kidney transplant programme, according to the Ministry of Health, is a sustainable model in which the international team's experience will be passed to Suriname, allowing local physicians to execute the operations on their own.

The number of renal patients in Suriname has increased dramatically in recent years, resulting in a rise in the number of persons requiring dialysis.

A kidney transplant is when a healthy kidney from a live or dead donor is transplanted into a person whose kidneys have failed.

When the kidneys have lost around 90% of their capacity to operate properly, it is called end-stage renal disease.

"Kidney failure patients must undergo dialysis three times a week for four hours. They've lost a lot of their independence, and they're constantly fatigued," said Krishna Khargi, a cardiothoracic surgeon, during the launch of a renal outpatient clinic last year.

In Suriname, possible kidney transplant candidates look for a donor from their own family, someone who is healthy and willing to give a kidney.

Suriname's renal sufferers are estimated to number between 800 and 900.