Brain-dead donors save lives of 8 patients in Saudi Arabia

In a remarkable feat, the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation (SCOT) successfully recovered organs from four brain-dead donors within a span of 12 hours, paving the way for eight life-saving transplants.

The collaborative effort resulted in two heart transplants, including one for a child, bringing an end to their heart failure struggles. Additionally, two liver transplants and four kidney transplants were performed, liberating patients from dialysis dependence.

This medical achievement was made possible through the seamless coordination between several prominent hospitals, including the Saudi German Hospital in Madinah, King Saud Medical City, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital’s Sahafa branch in Riyadh, and Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in Abu Dhabi, all working under the umbrella of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Organ Exchange Program.

SCOT’s Director General, Dr. Talal Algoufi, lauded the exceptional coordination among the participating entities, emphasizing that organ allocation was carried out with utmost ethical consideration and medical priority.

Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recognised Saudi Arabia as a global leader in lowering risks linked with healthcare and praised the Kingdom for its high-quality facilities and effectiveness in fighting infections.

WHO emphasised Saudi Arabia’s achievements in infection prevention, especially in drastically lowering central catheter-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), in a report posted on its official website.

The Kingdom achieved 48.8 percent annual reduction in central line bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates in intensive care units from 2021 to 2024, a figure that is four times the global reduction average over the same period.