A total of 57 people are currently awaiting a kidney transplant, of which three also need a pancreas transplant, Health Minister George Pamborides said on Monday.

Cyprus ranks fifth among the countries with the most living organ donors in the world, with 28.5 donors per million inhabitants of a country, but it is at the bottom of the list when it comes to deceased donors, with 6.47 donors per million population, the minister said at an event to mark this year’s World Kidney Day on March 10.

“From 2011 to date,” he added, “a total of 136 kidney transplants have taken place (in Cyprus), 98 from living donors and 38 from deceased, one of which involved a simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplantation.”

In his address, the minister said the renal disease can affect children in many ways, from conditions that are readily treatable to others that may be threatening the quality and duration of life.

“The majority of children with renal disease are in the final stage of renal failure when they are adults, resulting in a kidney transplant as the only solution. To reverse these negative results, we have a responsibility to act in a timely and organised way, “he said.

“A basic parameter for achieving the goal is the proper education of the children themselves, the parents and the general public,” Pamborides said. “The key to success is the establishment of a healthy lifestyle for children starting from birth and continuing into adulthood.”

He also said that today’s technological achievements in dealing with chronic kidney disease have significantly helped the duration and quality of life of kidney disease sufferers.

“The immediate goal of the health ministry is to create an autonomous transplant clinic at the General Hospital of Nicosia,” he concluded, noting that an enhanced effort to inform and raise awareness for organ donations was also important.

One in ten people is estimated to suffer from some form of kidney damage, according to World Health Organisation data.