Dh5-million fund-raising drive to cover organ transplant costs

Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha) and Authority of Social Contribution (Ma’an) have launched a Dh5-million fund-raising campaign to cover the costs of organ transplantation and encourage a culture of organ donation.

The ‘Organs Transplant Support’ campaign supports the activities of the National Programme for Organs and Tissues Donations. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the only Arab countries to offer organ donation and multi-organ transplant services, including heart, lung, liver and kidney.

The new initiative will provide hope and save lives of many patients by facilitating organ donation. It will support both living and deceased donors, and donor families to facilitate more donations.

Life is 'getting back to normal' for beneficiary

Abdul Rehman Hashmani, a 22-year-old Dubai resident, is among those who recently got an organ transplant. He was on a year-long break with dialysis and surgery, and is now looking forward to resuming university studies from the next semester.

It was last year that Hashmani suffered from leg cramps, nausea and vomiting. He was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure and placed on dialysis at a private hospital in Dubai for 10 months.

Earlier this year, Hashmani tried to get a kidney transplant from the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in Abu Dhabi, but his parents and brother were not suitable donors.

“I had given up hope. We were looking for any options to facilitate my transplant in the UAE or abroad.”

However, once the SKMC resumed transplant surgery services after a temporary closure due to Covid-19 safety measures, a phone call changed his life.

He was surprised to have got the call within six months of applying for the transplant. “Usually, people wait for three to five years, depending on the number of people on the waiting list and their blood group and tissue typing match as well as the rate of organ donation.

“But I was told there was a possible donor and I had to visit the hospital for tests. They found a possible match and my transplant was done. I was in the hospital for five days.”

The student is recovering well. “My life is getting back to normal. I have started going to the gym. From January, I will be back at the university.”

Giving hope to others

Hashmani got a transplant, courtesy the Seha-Ma’an campaign, which aims to promote the culture of organ donation and support the logistics of living related and deceased donation and provide hope to many others in need for heart, lung, liver and kidney transplants.

The Seha-Ma’an campaign is urging the community, charities and public and private corporations to contribute to the drive at https://fundraise.maan.gov.ae/campaigns/organs-donors-support/

In the Capital, the transplants will be performed at the SKMC and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai
• Abu Dhabi