Kazakhstan's Minister of Health Akmaral Alnazarova has publicly announced a decision she made long ago — to register her own consent to posthumous organ donation. She made the announcement on her Instagram account, infohub.kz reports.
"Today I want to publicly announce a decision that was made long ago — to register my consent to posthumous donation. I consider it important to speak about this openly. Not because I am the health minister, but because each of us may one day face the need to make such a decision, for ourselves or for someone close to us," NUR.KZ quoted her as saying.
According to the head of the Ministry of Health, posthumous donation is an opportunity to help, after death, those who have a chance to live.
The minister also cited statistics: about 184,000 people in Kazakhstan have already registered their consent through eGov, and the number of consents is growing.
According to Alnazarova, 4,867 Kazakhstanis are currently waiting for transplants: 4,311 for a kidney, 212 for a heart, 314 for a liver and 30 for lungs.
"We never stop saying that the development of posthumous donation is not only a task for the healthcare system. It is a matter of trust, open public dialogue and a conscious decision by each person," she noted in the post.