The Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has reached a milestone in the UAE when it comes to its pioneering work in transplanting organs and saving lives. This month alone, surgeons at the hospital have carried out separate lung and full liver transplant procedures on two patients, and the clinic has also carried out heart and kidney transplants. Indeed, doctors point out that a single deceased donor can give the gift of life to eight others through organ donation, with tissue donation also assisting others.
Differences in religious scholarly opinion have meant that traditionally, organ transplants only occurred between family members and that thinking now favours transplants from deceased donors. On an international scale, more than 140,000 transplant procedures from deceased donors occur annually.
The incredible work at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and at other hospitals across the UAE, where these innovative procedures are being planned, has been made possible by a UAE law passed in September 2016 that permits such operations. This far-sighted legislation has literally brought new life to those who were gravely ill unless a donor organ was found.
At times of immeasurable tragedy and grief, families can find a modicum of solace, knowing that the organs of their deceased relative can make a difference in changing the lives of others. We all have a responsibility to make our wishes known to close family members that if we are ever in a position where our organs can be used to save others, then so be it. It is incumbent upon us all now to ensure that a UAE organ donor registry becomes fully functional and as widespread as possible. Lives depend on it.
