Kuwait city: Kuwaiti surgeons achieved a groundbreaking milestone in 2024 by performing 149 successful kidney transplant surgeries.
According to Kuwait News Agency, Dr. Turki Al-Otaibi, representing the Kuwait Transplant Society, highlighted this achievement during a press briefing on World Organ Donation Day, which is observed globally on August 13. He emphasized the significance of this day as an opportunity to renew humanitarian appeals and enhance public awareness about the critical importance of organ donation.
Dr. Al-Otaibi noted that organ donation is both a humanitarian and compassionate response from donors, as well as a moral responsibility that can save lives. He revealed that the State of Kuwait currently has nearly 15,000 registered donors. As the chairman of the Arab Society of Nephrology and Renal Transplantation, Dr. Al-Otaibi underscored the need to dispel misconceptions about organ donation.
Globally, only 172,000 transplants were conducted in 2023, fulfilling just 10 percent of the global demand for organ donations. Dr. Al-Otaibi cited figures from the World Health Organization, pointing out that 1.5 million patients were in urgent need of transplants, indicating that nine out of ten patients did not receive the vital organs they required.