The Ministry of Health represented by the National Program for Organ Transplant Department marked today (Tuesday) the Omani Organ Donation Day in commemoration of the first organ transplant in the Sultanate of Oman that was performed on 19th December.
The event was held at the Hormuz Grand hotel under the auspices of HH Sayyid Kamil bin Fahd al Said, Secretary-General at the Secretariat-General for the Council of Ministers, with the presence of number of their Excellencies, Undersecretaries, in addition to a vast participation of civilian and military medical institutions and number of medical personnel from various health sector in the Sultanate of Oman.
This celebration comes as a continuation of the efforts of the Ministry of Health, represented by the National Organ Transplant Program Department, to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation through the launch of the national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation, which was activated in all governorates this year, in addition to developing organ transplant services in the country.
The event aims at raising community awareness with the importance of organ donation being a humanitarian act and a generous initiative that is considered an appropriate solution to organic failure such as kidney failure, liver failure, and other ailments from which millions of patients suffer worldwide. It further aspires to encourage community members on the act of saving the life of patients.
The ceremony included a presentation by Dr. Ahmed Al Busaidi, Director of the National Organ Transplant Program Department, who touched on what was accomplished during the year, especially the increase in the number of kidney transplant operations, as 17 kidneys were transplanted this year, the activation of the corneal transplant program and the start of corneal transplant operations, and the increase in the number of registered people in Shifa application for post-mortem organ donation for more than 11 thousand registered people.
a number of living organ donors and relatives of posthumous organ donors were honored in the event. Moreover, a three-day organ donation training course was launched in cooperation with the Donation Transplantation Institute, Spain.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Health has activated the program for the possibility of expressing a desire to donate organs after death by registering in Shifa application. This year a program was activated to interview relatives of the brain-dead person to offer the option of donating organs after death and performing transplantation for eligible organ failure patients on national waiting lists.
