The Advisor to the President of the Republic for Health and Prevention Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag Eddin announced Thursday that he spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi about the possibility of adding a field in the national ID card for citizens wishing to donate organs.
During a phone interview with MBC Masr, he noted that organ transplantation in Egypt is a complicated matter attached to customs, traditions and emotions.
President Sisi had already ordered to study the application of adding the choice of organ donation to the national ID card, he said.
Conditions for donating human organs
The Human Organ Transplant Law regulated the mechanisms for organ donation from one person to another, and established deterrent penalties in the event of the practice of transplanting organs in unauthorized facilities resulting in harm or death to the donor.
Organ donation terms:
1- The donor should not be under pressure and be in full control of the decision.
2- The age of the donor should not be more than 50 years.
3- The organ transplant must be carried out in a licensed medical facility.
4- Accurate medical diagnoses are made for the donor, confirming that they are not exposed to any health problems.
Prohibitions for Transplantation of Human Organs
The law also included procedures and prohibitions related to organ transplants, the most prominent of which were as follows:
1- Prohibition of transplanting organs, their parts, tissues, or reproductive cells, which leads to the mixing of lineages.
2- Prohibition of transplantation from Egyptians to foreigners except for the spouses if one of them is Egyptian and the other is a foreigner, provided that at least three years have passed since this marriage.
3 – It is not permissible to transfer any organ from the body of a living person to transplant it into the body of another person, unless it is a donation among Egyptian relatives. It is permissible to donate to non-relatives if the patient is in urgent need for the transplant, and upon approval of the special committee formed for this purpose by a decision of the Health Minister in accordance with the controls and procedures determined by the executive regulations of this law.
4- It is permissible to transplant between children of an Egyptian mother and a foreign father.
6- The donation must be made by free will with the utmost consent and confirmed in writing, as determined by the executive regulations of this law.
7- A child’s donation is not accepted, nor is a donation accepted from a person who is incompetent or deficient.
Penalty for organ donation in illegal facilities
The law stipulates that without prejudice to the penalties prescribed in Articles 17 and 19 of this law, anyone who knowingly performs a transfer or transplant operation in other than licensed medical facilities shall be punished by imprisonment and a fine of no less than LE 200,000 and not more than LE 300,000.
If the act results in the death of the donor or recipient, the penalty shall be life imprisonment.
