Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) is the first educational institution in the UAE to run an organ transplantation programme, in particular for kidneys.
The programme was launched in June 2016 in tandem with the first successful kidney transplant for an Emirati patient, a 29-year-old mother of two. The procedure was conducted by a joint medical team from MBRU and Mediclinic City Hospital.
“Having started the conversation for organ transplants in Dubai, MBRU was extremely honoured to make history and complete the first successful kidney transplant surgery in Dubai in 2016.
“This was done in cooperation with the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation, the Dubai Healthcare City Authority, Mediclinic City Hospital, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention, Dubai Airports, Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, Dubai Customs, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, among other authorities that made this milestone a reality,” explains Nujood Al Khloofi, Director of Communications and External Relations, MBRU.
The successful kidney transplant marked the launch of the MBRU Transplant Programme, with the aim of saving the lives of patients suffering from organ failure and a specific focus on those with kidney failure.
“We were the first, and to date remain the only, academic institution in the country with such a programme as we continue our mission to advance health in the UAE and the region through an innovative and integrated academic health system that is nationally responsive and globally connected serving individuals and communities,” Al Khloofi adds.
In conjunction with the launch of "Hayat", an online platform that allows individuals to register their willingness to be organ donors by the Ministry of Health and Prevention at the Arab Health Exhibition and Conference 2019, MBRU unveiled the first two videos of multi-organ deceased donation and transplantation in the UAE that took place in 2017.
The unveiling of the videos highlights the first steps taken in the launch of the national programme for organ transplantation under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Prevention with the participation of various national health authorities, government and private entities with the collaboration of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation.
The launch of the videos aims to recognise the hard work of the team who saved the lives of several individuals with organ failure.
The videos highlight the first donation and transplant from a deceased donor in the UAE on July 15, 2017, where the deceased donated five organs, resulting in saving five lives. The second multi-organ donor donation and transplant was carried out in the UAE on September 23, 2017, where four successful transplantations were done that helped save four lives.
“One of our values at MBRU is connectivity and we aim to continue our efforts in bringing the community together towards understanding the importance of this humane act. To date, MBRU has supported numerous organ donation and transplant cases in the country through its participation in the National Transplant Program efforts of the UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention. Words cannot justify the life-changing experience for patients who were blessed to receive transplanted organs, and to see them doing better is what keeps us going,” Al Khloofi says.