The Qatar Centre for Organ Transplantation (QCOT) has announced the successful completion of four organ transplants over two days last week at Hamad General Hospital (HGH). These surgeries included three kidney transplants and one liver transplant.

Dr Yousuf al-Maslamani, Chairman QCOT and lead of the transplant surgery team, said the donations came from both living and a deceased donor.

The deceased donor, a Bangladeshi citizen, saved the life of three people by donating his kidneys to a Qatari national and a Pakistani expatriate. His liver saved the life of another Bangladeshi patient.

The living donations included a Palestinian citizen who donated his kidney to one of his family members.

Dr  al-Maslamani, who was present throughout all the surgeries, said: “Over the last week, there was tremendous activity in Hamad General Hospital (HGH) to prepare the living donors, obtain the consent from the family of the deceased donor and perform all the pre-surgery tests. A total of eight teams were present to work on the donors and recipients.

“The collaboration between different departments and sub specialties not only shows the joint teamwork and co-ordination that goes into each surgery but also demonstrates the growing infrastructure of the Centre. This could not have been possible without the great support from Qatari leaders, hospital administration and the Supreme Council of Health (SCH). We are seeing an increase in both living and deceased donations and are now preparing 42 living donors to donate their kidneys to patients in their respective families. Half of these donors are Qatari nationals and this is a testament to the changing mindsets in Qatar. The population better understand organ donation and trust the care provided at HMC. This is thanks to the positive work of members of the Qatar Centre for Organ Donation (Hiba) and the impact of the recent organ donation campaign.”

The organ donation and transplantation system in Doha is built upon the principles of providing equal and ethical standards of healthcare for all and has, in a short amount of time, gained international attention and support for successfully building a discrimination-free system.