RIYADH: Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif commended Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah and his medical staff at the King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam on Monday for carrying out a number of successful organ transplants.
“We thank you for organizing meaningful programs for the benefit of patients and for the subsequent outstanding achievements made at the hospital,” said Prince Naif, in a message addressed to Al-Rabeeah.
The hospital has successfully carried out 48 kidney transplants, four pancreas transplants and, recently, two liver transplants without any complications or fatalities.
The beneficiaries of the two livers — aged 17 and 50 — were both suffering from liver failure. Both patients, who have now fully recovered, received livers from donors who were brain dead.
Thanking Prince Naif for his message, Al-Rabeeah said there is a 100 percent success rate at the hospital.
“The operated patients were discharged and are leading healthy and peaceful lives back home,” he added.
He also said the hospital is the first facility to perform pancreas transplants in the Middle East.
“This great achievement would not have been possible if it were not for the efficiency of the hospital medical staff and for the cooperation of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who is committed to offering the best medical services to people in the Kingdom,” he said.
Al-Rabeeah took the opportunity to thank the relatives of dead donors.
“We would like to receive more organ donors to help those who are desperately in need of them,” he added.
The Saudi Council of Senior Scholars issued a fatwa in 1982 declaring the permissibility of organ donations from living or dead people. The King Fahd Specialist Hospital has also been running a separate oncology department since 2005.
According to the minister, the number of new cancer cases have been rising steadily over 2007 and 2008. It is estimated that there were 880 new cancer cases in 2008, a 26 percent increase compared to the year before. The hospital has also established a Palliative Care Committee to build educational resources and create manpower to help alleviate the suffering of Eastern Province cancer patients. The committee also prepares management guidelines in palliative care.
“We recognize that the Eastern Province shares with Riyadh Province the highest incidence of cancer in the Kingdom. We see this reflected in the growth of our oncology clinics and in medical referrals from outside the province,” said Khalid Al-Shaibani, the hospital’s chief executive officer.
He added that hundreds of patients are on dialysis without the prospect of receiving a life-saving kidney transplant. “We are as well moving forward in the design of our new neurosurgical operating rooms that will support our neuroscience services. Our future growth will ensure diagnosis and treatment are administered locally and at the highest standards. In order to transform our services to deliver 21st century tertiary health care, the Kingdom has invested in the upgrade and renovation of our aging facility to meet these goals.”
