Transplantation in Asia during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic: briefs from member countries of the Asian Society of Transplantation

• Published in: Clinical transplantation and research Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 71 - 77
• Main Authors: Kee, Terence, Jeong, Jong Cheol, Ha, Jongwon, Rashid, Harun Ur, Begum, Nura Afza Salma, Ma, Maggie K.M., Kute, Vivek, Yuzawa, Kenji, Yahya, Rosnawati, Ahmad, Ghazali, Od-Erdene, Lkhaakhuu, Shah, Dibya Singh, Danguilan, Romina A, Ahn, Curie, Rana, Devinder Singh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Korean Society for Transplantation 30.06.2020; Korean Society for Transplantation; 대한이식학회
• Subjects: covid-19; transplantation; asia; donation; surgery; infections; Review; 의학일반
• ISSN: 2671-8790; 3022-6783; 2671-8804; 3022-7712
• DOI: 10.4285/kjt.2020.34.2.71

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected 1,029,968 people in Asia as of May 16, 2020. Although Asia was the first continent to be affected, many countries in the region continue to battle COVID-19, which challenges the way transplant programs provide their services. Given the diversity of healthcare systems in Asia, the countermeasures in response to COVID-19 are as potentially diverse. This review reports the experiences of transplant services in member countries of the Asian Society of Transplantation (AST) as well as provides a platform for sharing of best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. AST invited member countries to provide a short description of their transplant experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whenever information is available, countries were asked to provide information on COVID-19 related statistics, status of transplant programs, mitigation measures taken to prevent COVID-19, and other areas of transplant programs impacted by COVID-19. Ten countries responded to the invitation of which seven still have active transplant programs at varying levels of activity. All countries have protocols for donor/recipient screening and countermeasures to prevent COVID-19 infections in recipients and healthcare providers. Interestingly, these countries report only 16 transplant recipients with COVID-19 infection but no cases of donor-transmitted COVID-19 infection. Despite the diversity of healthcare systems in Asia, transplant centers in Asia have taken appropriate precautions to avoid COVID-19 infections, though the long-term impact of COVID-19 remains unclear.