Dr Yousuf al-Maslamani, director of the Qatar Centre for Organ Transplantation and medical director of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)’s Hamad General Hospital, last week announced that eight patients successfully underwent liver and kidney transplant operations in June and are now recovering at home. 
Eight transplant surgeries in a single week is a record for HMC and Dr al-Maslamani highlighted that all patients are recovering well and being monitored by the transplant teams as part of their follow-up care, according to a press statement.
The gift of life for the organ transplant recipients came from four donors, one related living donor and three deceased donors. According to Dr al-Maslamani, celebrating the success of the surgeries – five kidney transplants and three liver transplants – is important as it highlights the significance and value of the gifts of life and health.
The surgeries involved a collaboration between various HMC departments, including medicine, surgery, anaesthesia, critical care, laboratory and radiology, with the Qatar Organ Donation Centre leading and co-ordinating the effort. While eight transplant surgeries in a single week is a new record for HMC, the transplant team sees this achievement as a stepping stone that they are excited to build upon, the statement notes.
Dr Abdulla al-Ansari, deputy chief medical officer for Surgical Services, said he is proud of the team that works each day to realise such successes.
“We are proud of the teams from our organ donation and transplantation centres, the high standard of quality care that we have established and of our safety standards. The outcomes achieved by our organ donation and transplantation teams are comparable with the best international standards,” said Dr al-Ansari.  
Dr Riadh Fadhil, director of the Qatar Organ Donation Centre, added that he is proud of both HMC’s focus on public education about the importance of organ donation and the humane and equitable nature of its organ transplantation programme. 
“Our model is world-leading and our community continues to provide a good example to the rest of the world in terms of the responsibility to treat all patients equally. Our programme’s organ recipients include Qatari, Filipino, Indian, Yemeni, Pakistani, Egyptian and Syrian nationals. We are one of the few countries in the region offering integrated organ transplantation services on the basis of a single unified national waiting list,” said Dr Fadhil.
Dr al-Maslamani expressed gratitude and appreciation to the donors’ families, stating that without their selfless gift, the eight patients could not have survived. “On behalf of the recipients and their families, and on behalf of all those involved in these life-saving procedures, I wish the donors’ families good health for their future and I wish to acknowledge their loved ones who gave the gift of life.”   
To learn more about organ donation, including information about registering as a donor, one can visit http://organdonation.hamad.qa