Patient Care – Education on Kidney Trafficking
In 2023, the Canadian Association of Nephrology Nurses and Technologists (CANNT) developed a Kidney Organ Trafficking Pamphlet that can be shared with patients across Canada with factual information to patients, particularly in nephrology care. It is meant to bring awareness of organ trafficking.
We encourage healthcare professionals to share the available pamphlet at your institutions and centers to keep patients informed.
If you have any questions or comments about the information provided, please contact us at cannt@cannt.ca.
Patient Awareness Pamphlet
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The goal of getting a kidney transplant is to improve your quality of life. However, getting the right kidney is important and this can take time.
Some people feel the wait is too long so may look for other ways to get a kidney transplant faster. Some of these ways are dangerous and illegal.
Many countries take part in what is called organ trafficking. Organ trafficking occurs when you pay money or give something of value to get an organ for transplant. Often these organs are removed from people who have not given permission or do not understand what is happening to them.
In Canada it is illegal1 to take part in organ trafficking or receive a transplant from organ trafficking. It can lead to going to jail for up to 14 years.
1 The law against organ trafficking is Bill S-223 passed in December 2022.
Before you have a kidney transplant, you need to have many medical tests.
These tests are done to make sure the kidney is a good match for your body. When the kidney is a good match, it works better and lasts longer.
These tests are important to do to help avoid problems with your heart, infection, certain cancers, and other diseases in the future. They also make sure that you are healthy enough to have transplant surgery.
It is important to do many medical tests on the donor as well. This helps makes sure that the person giving a kidney can live a normal, healthy life with one kidney.
When a kidney comes from organ trafficking, most of the time these tests are not done or are of poor quality. This often leads to problems with the kidney transplant.
Research shows that a person is up to 4 times more likely to die or lose the new kidney if the kidney transplant is done outside of Canada using an organ trafficked kidney.
If the kidney stops working, we call this ‘losing the kidney’. Sometimes you may have to have the kidney removed by surgery with more risk to your health.
Your body often works to fight things that do not belong. These things are called foreign. Your new kidney is foreign to your immune system.
Your immune system tries to fight your new kidney and prevent it from working. This is called rejection.
Sometimes rejection cannot be fixed and the kidney stops working. There is a greater chance of rejection with organ trafficking.
You may not receive the right medications or the right doses after surgery to prevent rejection.
When all the right medical tests are not done before surgery, there is a greater risk of rejection.
You also may not have any health care team members looking after these medications and how they affect you when you leave the country. This increases your risk of rejection.
There is also a greater chance of getting severe infections or having surgical complications. Some of these infections cannot be treated as there are no medications to help. This can make you very sick or even die.
This is because the equipment used during surgery and the methods used to sterilize the equipment is not often up to North American standards. As well, the surgical methods used in other countries are often not up to date.
There is a higher risk of getting complications from surgery. These include problems with bleeding, blood clots, leaking from the incision and/or the incision opening.
It is very hard for your transplant doctor and the transplant team to manage your care after you come home. This is because the medical records are often not complete.
Your transplant doctor and team may not know how good of a match your transplanted kidney is, if there were any issues during or after surgery, or what medications you received after surgery.
Sometimes the medical records are not in English, and it can be hard to translate them.
Talk to your dialysis team or a member of your transplant team if you have concerns about waiting to receive a kidney transplant.
Your team is here to help you and answer your questions.
Your team wants you to stay safe and receive a kidney transplant that will help you live a long, healthy life.
Working Group
This pamphlet was made possible by the dedicated working group from CANNT:
Rachael Blair, RN, BScN, MEd, CNeph(C), Recipient Transplant Coordinator, Multi-Organ Transplant Program, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS (Co-Chair)
Lisa Robertson, RN, BScN, CNeph(C), Educator, Nephrology, Renal Transplant Unit, Peritoneal Dialysis, Multi Care Kidney Clinics, Transplant Clinic, and Transplant Coordinators, Department of Nursing Practice and Education, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON (Co-Chair)
Megan Carter, RN, BScN, CNeph(C), Post Transplant Clinic, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON
Elizabeth (Bettiann) Curran, RN, BN, CNeph(C), Transplant Coordinator, Kidney Care Center, Eastern Health, Mount Pearl, NL
Paula Eyles, BScN, MHSc., RN, Patient Education Specialist, Hamilton, ON
Fay-Anne Wilmot, RN, BScN, Renal Transplant Unit and Pre Recipient Transplant Clinic, St Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON
Kokab Younis, RN, BN, ACCN, CNEPH(C), MN(Student), University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
Ali Iqbal, MD, FRCPC, Transplant Nephrologist, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton