Why Iran is the best destination for kidney transplant?

Kidney transplantation not only can increase the life expectancy of kidney patients but also bring them a much easier life with higher quality. If the operation remains successful, the kidney patient will no longer need dialysis. Dialysis treatment requires frequent referrals of patients to the kidney dialysis units and undergoing the dialysis itself. This procedure will be up to three times a week, and it would take up to four hours each time.

Apart from the difficulties of dialysis for the kidney patient, the costs of this treatment are relatively high and will be burdensome to the patient or his family.

The advantages of kidney transplantation, in contrast to dialysis, have been more elaborated, in the article “What are the benefits and risks of kidney transplant“.

However, although kidney transplantation will generally have more benefits than dialysis, it cannot easily be performed in all countries.

In some Western countries, including the United States, the only accepted way to perform a kidney transplant is by receiving a kidney from a deceased person. In such a case, only people who have died of brain death, stroke, or euthanasia, for example, can be capable of donating organs.

Because of this, it is clear that kidney patients will have to wait in line for a long time (perhaps even for five years) to receive a kidney that fits their body condition and tissues.  Therefore, they have to undergo dialysis during this period.

However, statistics show that in 2016, about 7,000 dialysis patients died in the United States.

But in Iran, the situation is very different: annually, about 2,500 kidney transplants are performed in Iran, which is a unique figure in the world.

If you are curious to know the reason for this difference, or you want to have a kidney transplant yourself, and on the other hand, you are tired of staying on waiting lists, join us in this article to explore more about the topic.

The Iranian model of renal transplantation

In Iran, there is a new method for kidney transplantation, which is called “Living Unrelated Renal Donation” (LURD) or the “The Iranian model of living renal transplantation”. This method, which is completely legal and safe, and is under the supervision of the Iranian Ministry of Health, has been common since 1988.

In this method, kidney patients, through the “Iran Kidney Foundation”, will be connected to the live donors who have no genetic relationship, and will receive a healthy kidney at a reasonable waiting time.

This method has many advantages, some of which will be mentioned in this section.

The most important advantage of this method is reducing the waiting time by kidney patients to receive a healthy kidney

The next benefit is the increased success rate of a kidney transplant, receiving the transplanted kidney from a living donor.

According to Dr. Nasser Simforoush, the founder of modern and advanced kidney transplantation in Iran, the average lifespan of a transplanted kidney from a living donor is about 15 to 20 years, while this time for a kidney, received from a brain-dead donor, will be about 10 years. Also, receiving a kidney from a brain-dead person, the need for a second and third transplant will increase.

When a kidney is received from a deceased person with a history of underlying diseases such as heart attack, the quality of the donated kidney will be much lower.

While in a transplant from a living person, the entire medical history of the kidney donor would be checked, and therefore, the donor should be in perfect health. Also, because there is no family relationship between the recipient and the donor of the kidney, the possibility of genetic defects that primarily caused the kidney disease would be minimized.

The next advantage is the cost of a kidney transplant. The cost of a kidney transplant is about one-seventh that of dialysis, and its subsequent complications and complications are much lower for the patient. This cost difference will even intensify in Iran.

With the initiatives of the Iranian medical system, today, one of the cheapest kidney transplant operations with the highest success rates is happening in this country. Statistics show that about 95% of transplants have been successful and the experience and expertness of Iranian medical staff in this field are unique.

Also, kidney transplantation is the only option for many patients, especially children.

Thus, today in Iran, it can be said that there is the shortest waiting list for a kidney transplant.

While the waiting time for a kidney transplant in a developed country, like the United States, is between 4 and 12 years, this time in Iran is about six months for a transplant from a living person and about one year for a brain-dead donor.

Of course, it must be noted that under Iranian law, non-Iranians can’t receive kidneys from Iranians. The solution for non-Iranians, who need a kidney transplant, is to bring a suitable donor of their own nationality to Iran as a kidney donor.

Therefore, if you are thinking of kidney transplantation or you are tired of dialysis, do not forget Iran as one of the most distinguished medical destinations, with the most advanced and at the same time the cheapest medical facilities.

Do you have any more questions, or would you like to acquire some more information?

The consultant medical doctors of TebMedTourism Co. are ready to answer your questions for free 24/7.