UB leads the project EMPODaT: a new postgraduate program to develop organ donation and transplantation in Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco
To design a postgraduate program that promotes organ donation and transplantation in Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco; to develop academic and scientific contents and tools to train students as specialists in organ donation and transplantation in accordance with the European Space for Higher Education guidelines, and to generate a consulting network with the participation of universities and other allied institutions. These are the main objectives of the European-Mediterranean Postgraduate Program on Organ Donation and Transplantation (EMPODaT), a project led by the University of Barcelona and coordinated by Martí Manyalich, lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona (UB), president of DTI Foundation - Donation & Transplantation Institute (located at the Barcelona Science Park, PCB-UB) and transplantation consultant at the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona.
To design a postgraduate program that promotes organ donation and transplantation in Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco; to develop academic and scientific contents and tools to train students as specialists in organ donation and transplantation in accordance with the European Space for Higher Education guidelines, and to generate a consulting network with the participation of universities and other allied institutions. These are the main objectives of the European-Mediterranean Postgraduate Program on Organ Donation and Transplantation (EMPODaT), a project led by the University of Barcelona and coordinated by Martí Manyalich, lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona (UB), president of DTI Foundation - Donation & Transplantation Institute (located at the Barcelona Science Park, PCB-UB) and transplantation consultant at the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona.
EMPODat is a TEMPUS project funded by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission. The creation of this postgraduate program is a step forward in the improvement of organ donation and transplantation in countries like Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco. To achieve its objectives, the programme promotes healthcare professionals training and the development of high-quality, sustainable systems of transplantations in Euromediterranean countries.
A total of ninety students (thirty students from each partner country of the European Neighbourhood Policy Partnership Instrument, ENPI) will benefit from the new Postgraduate Program on Organ Donation and Transplantation, funded and support by the European Commission.
Promoting cooperation among universities from seven countries
Statistics show significant differences in organ donation and transplantation rates among countries due to economic, legal and sociocultural differences. The improvement of professionals' training is a key factor to promote this aspect within medicine and public health at the local level. Dr Manyalich highlights that “worldwide organ transplantation needs are only covered in a 10 %. We need to carry out one million transplantation procedures per year to eliminate waiting lists”.
The project —in progress since December 2013 until November 2015— promotes cooperation among several institutions: the University of Barcelona, DTI Foundation - Donation & Transplantation Institute (headquartered at PCB-UB), Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg (Germany), the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (France), Lund University (Sweden), Cairo University (Egypt), the Lebanese American University (Lebanon), Mansoura University (Egypt), the University of Balamand (Lebanon), the University Hassan II (Morocco) and the University Mohammed V - Souissi (Morocco).
Objectives of the project EMPODaT
- To design a postgraduate program for specialists, in accordance with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) guidelines, and the needs of ENPI participant countries.
- To develop academic and scientific contents and tools and include them in an e-learning platform that will allow students to be trained as specialists in organ donation and transplantation in the framework of EHEA.
- To train a group of twelve ENPI teachers who will become coordinators of EMPODaT in their countries of origin and will provide training to a total of 90 students.
- To generate a consulting network with the participation of universities and other allied institutions, national and international bodies, involved in organ donation and transplantation to ensure the transferability of the project.
Organ donation and transplantation in Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco
Egypt does not have any programme of deceased donation (only living donation is done) and there are not health professionals specialized in organ donation. In 2013, 250 living-donor liver transplantations and 1,800 kidney ones were done in the country.
Lebanon has the National Organization for Organ & Tissues Donation & Transplantation. Transplants have been done in the country since 1985 (in the case of living donations) and 1990 (in the case of deceased donations). Lebanon has a programme of liver, kidney and heart (deceased-donor) transplantations.
In the case of Morocco, the programme of deceased-donor transplantations was set up in 2010. It is limited to kidney and cornea and developed at two university hospitals: Casablanca and Marrakech. Concerning living-donor transplantations, the first kidney transplantation was done in 1985. They have been regularly done since 1991.
For further information, please visit the website of the project EMPODaT.