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World Children's Transplant Fund InitiativesCurrently the WCTF is raising funds for the following projects: 1. Pediatric Pancreatic Islet Transplantation - The Chicago Project Islet transplantation has reached sufficient success and demonstration of safety to consider applying this procedure at least for worst-case diabetic infants and children. Diabetes in children can be especially dangerous because of the threat of sever hypoglycemia (low blood sugars). Hypoglycemia can provoke seizures, coma and in the worst case death. The transplantation of islets will result in insulin independence and freedom from hypoglycemia. The WCTF will cooperate with the UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) to offer children with worst-case diabetes and life threatening complications the possibility of an islet transplant. The cost of the first islet transplantation for a child (which will also be the first operation of this kind in the world) is estimated at US$100,000, and includes all of the pre- and post-operative treatments and drugs. The WCTF is currently raising funds to cover these costs. If you would like to contribute, please contact us. Imagine a world without diabetes -- a world where small children will not have to live in fear of a lifetime of injections, pain, and complications; a world in which an adult, whose natural ability to produce insulin diminishes with age, does not have to face the possibility of blindness, kidney failure, or limb amputation. This world can become a reality. The WCTF-UIC partnership will give real hope to millions of people whose lives are dictated by this debilitating condition. This is an opportunity to solve one of the world’s greatest medical challenges that will improve the quality of many lives, as well as help curb the economic impact diabetes has upon society. About Pediatric Islet Transplantation There are two types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 patients must give themselves insulin injections each day to control their blood sugar levels. Type 2 can sometimes be controlled with diet but many times those patients too must use insulin. All patients must constantly monitor their blood sugar levels, as hypoglycemia (low blood sugars) can provoke seizures, coma and in the worst case death. For the first time since the invention of insulin, there is a major step in the treatment of diabetes. It is called "islet cell transplantation." Using sophisticated equipment, doctors take islet cells from a donor pancreas and transplant them into the liver of a diabetic patient. They begin producing insulin almost immediately, thus offering the patients freedom from frequent insulin shots and finger sticks to measure blood sugar levels. Islet transplantation has reached sufficient success and demonstration of safety to consider applying this procedure at least for worst-case diabetic infants and children. However, the high costs of the operation and especially of the post-operative treatment make this procedure virtually inaccessible to children who need it. This is why the WCTF decided to raise funds in order to make the first islet transplantation possible for a child. Imagine a world without diabetes -- a world where small children will not have to live in fear of a lifetime of injections, pain, and complications; a world in which an adult, whose natural ability to produce insulin diminishes with age, does not have to face the possibility of blindness, kidney failure, or limb amputation. This world can become a reality. The WCTF-UIC partnership will give real hope to millions of people whose lives are dictated by this debilitating condition. This is an opportunity to solve one of the world’s greatest medical challenges that will improve the quality of many lives, as well as help curb the economic impact diabetes has upon society. 2. Pediatric Pancreatic Islet Transplantation in Mexico Mexico has one of the highest incidences in diabetes on the continent. The WCTF plans to cooperate with the UIC and the IMSS (Instituto Medico-Quirurgico de la Seguridad Social) in Guadalajara to organize the processing of organs procured in Mexico and shipped to Chicago. The isolated pancreatic islet cells will then be shipped back to Guadalajara for transplantation in diabetic children. For the first transplants in Guadalajara, the cells are going to be isolated in Chicago, as the UIC has state-of-the-art facilities and an expert team for islet isolation. So far, only worst case diabetic children will be chosen, but as the technologies advance, there is hope that islet transplantation could be performed without the need for long-term systemic immunosuppression and could be offered to a larger number of children. At this stage, the paper work for starting clinical trials for islet transplantation in Guadalajara has been completed. The WCTF is raising funds for the further implementation of the project. 3. Pediatric Liver Transplantation in Mexico There is an important need to support pediatric liver transplantation in Mexico. In Guadalajara alone, about 15 children per year are in need of a liver transplant. Currently, these children are dying as they do not have a chance to receive the transplant, despite the availability of the medical expertise. One of the main problems is that social security in Mexico does not cover transplantation and very few people can afford the costly operation. The Social Security Hospital in Guadalajara was the first center in Mexico to perform a successful liver transplant in a two-year old girl many years ago. This girl is still in excellent condition, and local transplant surgeons would like to offer this life-saving procedure to more children. The WCTF intends to work with the IMSS and with communities in Mexico and in the United States in order to raise sufficient funds to establish a permanent pediatric transplant centre in Guadalajara. 4. W.W.C.T. (World Wide Convention on Transplantation) The World Children’s Transplant Fund aims to pursue the development of a multinational treaty on organ transplantation so as to facilitate organ transplantation of pediatric patients throughout the world. The eight initiatives of W.W.C.T. are the following:
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