17-year-old Emirati girl who received a kidney, tweets about her life-changing experience

Dubai: Dubai Health Authority (DHA) is actively pursuing a campaign to create awareness on organ donation.

After having launched a campaign for kidney disease awareness and education of the community on the importance of organ donation, DHA has tweeted about a first-person account of a 17-year-old Emirati girl. AlGhala, who was suffering from a congenital kidney condition from the age of one, received a kidney transplant at the Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital, which transformed her life. In a video tweeted by DHA, the young teenager talks about how her life was changed with this and tells the community about the importance of pledging our organs.

Currently undergoing post-transplant follow-ups, the vivacious young girl seeks to inspire the community to save lives by pledging their organs. The video tweet comes close on the heels of the launch of an extensive DHA campaign aimed at developing community awareness on kidney diseases and enhancing public understanding on organ donation.

Raising awareness on Chronic Kidney Disease

As reported by WAM, this campaign was recently launched on World Kidney Day on March 10, to raise awareness on how organ donation could dramatically improve the health of patients with organ failure and in some instances even save their lives.

Partnering with leading stakeholders

Launched on the occasion of World Kidney Day, the ongoing campaign is being organised in collaboration with DHA’s various partners, including the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Mediclinic City Hospital and Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital. Every year, the Authority marks World Kidney Day on March 10 by raising awareness on kidney diseases and the latest developments related to advanced diagnostic and treatment techniques for kidney diseases.

Three transplant centres in Dubai

The ongoing campaign seeks to provide information to the public on the three medical centres that have been accredited for kidney transplantation in Dubai, which include Dubai Hospital, Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital, and Mediclinic City Hospital.

Voluntary pledge of organ donation

The campaign aims to encourage people to voluntarily register their organ donation decision.

Patients with kidney failure can receive a donation from a living or deceased donor. Although receiving a donation from a living donor can work as a solution, many patients end up being placed on a transplant waiting list due to lack of a matching donor from their relatives, DHA said, noting that the UAE was working on further developing its paired kidney exchange programme.

A DHA spokesperson pointed out that all members of the community can contribute to saving lives by registering as organ donors, stressing that one organ donor has the potential to save up to eight people’s lives. All organ donation procedures and transplantation surgeries in Dubai are governed by DHA’s Supervisory Committee for Organ Transplantation.

Community members who wish to become organ donors can register in the Ministry of Health and Prevention’s National Programme for Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues — the ‘Hayat’ initiative.