Barriers to Organ Transplantation in the Algerian Health System from the Perspective of Health Professionals: A Qualitative Approach N. Laidouni a, *, D. Gil-González a,b , and S. Latorre-Arteaga a,c a Public Health Research Group, Department of Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health and History of Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain; b Ciber Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain; and c Universidade Lurio, Nampula, Mozambique ABSTRACT Background. Organ transplantation is often the only treatment for end-stage organ failure and is considered to be a cost-effective intervention with high impact on the health and quality of life of patients with chronic illnesses. Algeria has low rates of organ donation and transplantation, and health system coverage is not sufficient for the large number of patients awaiting this type of treatment. Physicians’ perspectives about the health system are essential to understanding the obstacles present in the development of transplant services. The objective of this study was to explore health professionals’ perspectives about the barriers to the development of transplantation management in the Algerian health system. Methods. A qualitative study was carried out by means of semistructured interviews with 17 doctors from various medical specialties. A thematic analysis was conducted on their discourses, using as a reference the World Health Organization Health Systems Frame- work model for an effectively functioning health system. Results. Physicians reported facing challenges in carrying out their professional func- tions. They also identified barriers to the development of organ donation and trans- plantation services in terms of community information and awareness, investment in infrastructure and technologies, and development of human resources and service management. Conclusions. Coordinated and multidisciplinary interventions are needed to overcome these barriers and to develop organ donation and transplantation services in Algeria. O RGAN transplantation is an advantageous option for chronic disease treatment, with the potential to improve quality of life and promote patient autonomy [1]. The value of organ transplantation has been widely recog- nized in recent decades, because it can serve as the most effective treatment for certain health problems [2]. How- ever, the development of this procedure has been uneven among countries, generating a gap in access to treatment and discrepancies in transplantation management quality within health services [3,4]. Demand for transplants has increased with the success of this therapy, but there are frequently not enough organ donations to meet the need [5]. The agenda of the Istanbul Declaration on Organ Traf- ficking and Tourism of 2008 recognized the need to develop organ transplantation services as the best treatment for organ failure. In the Declaration, states are urged to develop effective transplantation programs and to introduce appropriate policies in health systems to optimize the results of treatment [3,6]. Various international organizations were created to improve transplantation management, including Eurotransplant and the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation (GODT), in addition to remarkable national organizations such as the National Transplantation Organization (NTO) in Spain [7]. *Address correspondence to Nouhad Laidouni, Public Health Research Group, Department of Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health and History of Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Alicante, Campus San Vicente del Raspeig, Ap 99 E-03080, Alicante, Spain. E-mail: nouhad.laidouni@ua.es ª 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 230 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10169 0041-1345/16 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.transproceed.2016.08.046 Transplantation Proceedings, 48, 3261e3267 (2016) 3261