A Girl Student in Kahrizak Expelled from School Due to Kidney Transplant

A member of the Iranian Kidney Patients Association reported on Wednesday, April 21, the "unexpected expulsion" of a girl student by the administrators of a school in Karimabad Kahrizak due to her kidney transplant. Dariush Arman told the state news agency IRNA that an eight-year-old girl named "Shakila Rakhshani" had recently undergone a kidney transplant with the support of the Kidney Patients Association after enduring two years of painful dialysis. He added that the treating physician confirmed that "Shakila's recovery period is over and this student has no problems continuing her normal life." However, as Mr. Arman stated, "the officials of the Qiyam school in Karimabad Kahrizak, despite Shakila's presence in the first grade for several days, have informed her parents that they are absolutely unwilling to accept this student." This member of the board of trustees of the Kidney Patients Association added that the school officials responded to the mother’s protests by saying, "Since they are concerned about Shakila's kidney transplant rejection, they are therefore refusing to accept her into their school and are absolutely unwilling to do so." It seems this is the first time in Iran that school administrators have expelled a student due to such an issue. The Ministry of Education has not yet reacted to this news. Mr. Arman described the school's action as "a violation of the civil rights of an Iranian child" and stated that Shakila Rakhshani "is not suffering from any contagious, infectious, or communicable diseases." He urged the education officials in Tehran province to quickly facilitate this little girl's return to school, "because otherwise, this student and her family will face severe psychological problems. It is even possible that due to psychological issues, the transplanted kidney of the little girl may fail, and she may return to dialysis, which would be extremely dangerous." Kidney transplantation in Iran is a very difficult process, and according to Katayoun Najafizadeh, head of the Transplant and Special Diseases Department of the Ministry of Health, only between 2,700 and 3,000 kidney transplants are performed annually in the country. Meanwhile, according to statistics announced in the last months of last year, over 26,000 dialysis patients are on the waiting list for organ transplants, and according to health ministry officials, about 10% of dialysis patients die each year. Ms. Najafizadeh stated in July 2014 that the increase in the number of dialysis patients each year is about 4,000, meaning that the number of these patients increases by 8% annually. Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Ghanji, head of the Iranian Nephrology Association, stated in 2013 that these patients personally cover 80% of the costs.