Living organ donation system

By law the living related donor is defined as genetically related up to the 4th degree (first cousins), spouses and adopted children are also considered as related. Every case has to be well studied and prepared by the transplant team. A psychological evaluation and informed consents from the donor and the recipient are also requested. The case has to be approved by the ethics committee of the hospital. Then the complete file has to be checked and controlled by NOD-Lb before obtaining the final approval from the MOH, regardless of the 3rd party payer or the nationality of the recipient and donor pair.

The MOH has designated national medical and ethics committees to supervise Living Unrelated Donation. The patient has to be registered and stays on the national waiting list for 12 months before being allowed to give up and apply for a living unrelated donation.

1. Living Related Donor (LRD)

Who is genetically related?

Parents, Siblings, Grand-parents, Uncles and aunts (paternal and maternal), cousins, Nephews, nieces
Husband, wife: (The marriage has to be legalized and should have been for at least two years unless the couple has had children)
Duly adopted children: legal documents to prove the adoption
Daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, son-in-law (The marriage has to be legalized and should have been for at least two years unless the couple has had children)
Second spouses: (The marriage has to be legalized and should have been for at least two years unless the couple has had children)

There are strict conditions and regulations to be followed:

Donor 21 years.
The case has to be well studied and prepared by the transplant team. A psychological evaluation and informed consents from the donor and the recipient are required.
The files are, then, presented to the ethics committees of the hospital to be analyzed. The ethics committee interviews both donors and recipients.

If the file is accepted, the complete file with the agreement of the ethics committee should be sent to NOD-Lb to be checked and controlled by NOD-Lb before obtaining the final approval from the MOH regardless of the 3rd party payer or the nationality of the recipient and donor pair. (Ministerial decree 1/1765, 2014)

2. Living Unrelated Donor (LURD)

There are strict conditions and regulations to be followed:

Same nationality.
Donor 25 years.
The patient should be registered on the national waiting list for 12 months before applying for an unrelated donation.
After this period, the patient can apply for an unrelated donation to the national medical and ethics committees for organ donation designated by the Ministry Of Health. But this does not guarantee that the file will be accepted. The approval of the donation rests on the decision of the national medical and ethics committees for organ donation designated by the Ministry Of Health
Judicial and familial records.
A notary document signed by the recipient and a 1st degree responsible member of the family.
A notary document signed by the donor and a 1st degree responsible member of the family.
The case has to be well studied and prepared by the transplant team. A psychological evaluation and informed consents from the donor and the recipient are required.
The files are, then, presented to the national medical and ethics committees to be analyzed. The ethics committee interviews both donors and recipients.

If the file is accepted, the complete file with the agreements of all the dierent committees should be sent to NOD-Lb to be checked and controlled by NOD-Lb before obtaining the final approval from the MOH regardless of the 3rd party payer or the nationality of the recipient and donor pair. (Ministerial decree 1/1765, 2014) These conditions have regulated living unrelated donation in Lebanon. It has dropped from 52.5% in 2012 to 5% very well studied cases in 2015.