Guyana set to be 1st Caricom country to conduct HLA testing for organ transplants

Guyana is set to be the first Caribbean Community Member State to conduct Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) testing for organ transplants.
Earlier in the year, Government procured the HLA machine to increase Guyana’s capacity to determine human organ compatibility before conducting transplant surgeries.
In this regard, very soon, skilled health practitioners will be able to match patients and donors for bone marrow, cord blood, and other organ transplants.
According to Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, technical staff are currently being training to ensure the service is onstream by the end of 2024.

“So right now without that matching, we depend on sending those samples to Miami and that has been, that’s how the programme was built all along. So, we’re changing that where we can do these testing locally. And there’s no country in the Caribbean that has been able to do HLA testing for themselves. So, once we put this equipment in place, we would be the first one to be able to do that,” Dr. Anthony disclosed.
The Health Ministry through the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Agency is actively working to establish Guyana’s first National Human Organ and Transplant Registry.
This platform, which will be managed by the agency, is part of efforts to modernise Guyana’s healthcare system and fast-track the process in which ill citizens access functioning organs.
Dr. Anthony explained that the HLA testing capability will complement the work of the agency, which aims to save lives.

“Well, the registry is important because in that way we’ll be able to match people and do more surgeries and when a donor becomes available, they can be matched to a potential recipient. So that’s why that is very important and there are a lot of procedures that must be followed and so we’re adhering to the best standards that exist globally… Now one of the requirements for the registry would be that we have to get a set of patients and we’ve been working with Donation Transplant Institute to put all the regulations in place,” he added.

The establishment of a National Donor and Transplant Registry is provided for in Part Three, Section 13 of the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Bill 2021.
The registry would include consents, amendments, and revocation of consents from adults regarding the donation of their organs, tissues, cells, or biofluids, among other things.
Individuals who are any of transplantation aforementioned, as well as those who have received such treatments, will be included in the registration process.
Further, the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Agency also plans to expand its Transplant Suite located at the GPHC to accommodate more patients who have had successful transplant surgeries and require aftercare.
To fulfill this requirement, the Agency, through legislation, will assume the responsibility of managing, operating, and preserving the donor registry. (G1)