Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid establishes national transplant centre

The centre will regulate and co-ordinate organ transplants surgeries across the country

Sheikh Khalifa Medical City has resumed its kidney transplant programmes for patients who are free of underlying health conditions. Getty

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, approved a decision to establish National Centre to Regulate Human Organs and Tissues Transplantation.

The centre will fall under the Ministry of Health and Prevention and will regulate and co-ordinate organ transplants surgeries across the country, as well as preservation of human tissues.

The decision aims to strengthen medical and social care for organ donation and transplantation in accordance with highest international standards and ethics of medical practice, reported state news agency Wam.

Establishing a centre aims to encourage and support organ and tissue donation, transfer and transplantation.

This year, health officials revealed plans for another organ transplant centre in Sharjah.

The facility, based at the emirate's Al Qassimi Hospital, will be operated in partnership with Mohammed Bin Rashid University Of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dubai.

Performing transplants with the organs of deceased donors was legalised in the UAE in 1993.

An issue over the legal definition of death, however, meant transplants were restricted to organs taken from living donors and usually involved kidney operations.

A breakthrough came in March, 2018 when authorities agreed to a legislation framework that allowed transplants from deceased donors.

In a study conducted in 2018, nearly 70 per cent of UAE residents said they would donate an organ in the event of their death.

Less than a third of those polled were against giving an organ, researchers found.

The findings were significantly higher than in other countries in the region such as Qatar (37 per cent) Iran (47 per cent) and Pakistan (59 per cent) and on a par with attitudes found in countries with long-established donor programmes.

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi carried out a record 35 successful transplants in 2018, up from just five the previous year.

At an event held to mark the progress, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Tolerance, applauded the generosity of donors and congratulated the hospital’s staff.

“Donors of organs are ­paragons of selflessness in a world too often awash in selfish, self-serving actions,” Sheikh Nahyan said.

“While we celebrate the continuation of life made possible by the generosity of donors, we also mourn the loss of those donors who have passed from this life.”