Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 June, 2019 at 9:39 am by Christian Keszthelyi
LifeCycle (Malta) Foundation is renewing its sponsorship agreement with the Ministry for Health for the third consecutive year for Traccia software solution at Mater Dei Hospital’s Renal Unit, according to a press release sent to Business Malta.
At the same time, Alan Curry, the founder of the organisation has recently presented their yearly donation of €10,000 to the Head of the Renal Unit Professor Emanuel Farrugia. The money can be spent on the running costs of maintaining the Traccia database programme, where the updated kidney recipient waiting list can be found.
Around 130 renal patients waiting for a kidney transplant are being monitored with the help of the Traccia software solution at Mater Dei Hospital’s Renal Unit. Since the introduction of Traccia in 2017, some 32 patients received a kidney transplant after their blood composition was found compatible with the donated organ. Ten of the kidney donations arrived from living donors while 22 from deceased donors.
The software keeps data and gives points accordingly to waiting time, age matching, human tissue typing (HLA) matching, clinical findings, hypersensitisation, lack of access, etc. It also facilitates the procedure of finding the right match for a renal patient, compatible with a kidney donor with better chances of survival and for the recipient’s fulfilment of life.
“Our Renal Unit provides facilities for treating patients with kidney failure who require haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, apart from coordinating kidney transplant services. Thanks to the yearly contribution from LifeCycle, the Traccia software programme has been of great support to patients at the Renal Unit,” said Professor Emanuel Farrugia, the Head of the Mater Dei Hospital’s Renal Unit.
“Renal patients have to undergo four hours of dialysis, three times a week, attached to a blood cleaning machine. This is a very aggressive treatment which leaves the patient quite debilitated. Traccia, apart from facilitating the process, will also allocate organs to those patients which match most and not only rely on the waiting time on the list. Every kidney donation is now being run by this new system and this is saving us precious time,” explained Charge Head Nurse Paul Calleja.
LifeCycle yearly organises a cycling challenge, each time in different countries to raise money for life-saving equipment to help patients suffering from kidney failure and to raise awareness about Organ Transplants here in Malta.
This year’s Nescafé 3in1 LifeCycle Challenge will take the participants on a route of 2,000 km from Vietnam, through Laos, and Cambodia ending at the Temples of Angkor Wat, a UNESCO Heritage site.
As Business Malta earlier reported, Nestlé provided a new cycling kit to a group of cyclists and back-up team members from LifeCycle Challenge. This happened after two charity events this year contributed to the collection of €1,142 for patients suffering from end-stage renal disease.
