A new liver transplant programme will be launched soon in Kuwait in co-operation with King's College London, said a Kuwaiti medical official.
Speaking to KUNA on the sidelines of the second joint meeting of the Turkish Transplantation Society and the Turkic World Transplantation Society, head of the Hamid Al Essa Organ Transplant Center Dr Mustafa Al Mosawi said that a deal was struck last October with the British college to establish a new programme for liver transplant in Kuwait.
He indicated that the final details of the deal had been set, affirming that a new liver transplant centre will be established soon.
Dr Al Mosawi said that Kuwait began its organ transplant programme in February 1979, saving countless lives since then. The Kuwaiti official said that in 1996 some 800 patients' lives were saved due to 256 organs provided by deceased donors.
He added that some 2,137-liver transplant operations were conducted annually in the old programme with a success rate of 90 per cent.
Meanwhile, a Saudi medical official lauded the organ exchange programme between his country and Kuwait.
Director general of the Saudi Transplant Society Dr Faisal Al Shaheen said that the programme managed to save countless lives in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
He indicated that similar programmes existed between Saudi Arabia and other GCC as well as Arab countries, affirming that these programmes also saved many lives.
The second joint meeting of the Turkish Transplantation Society and the Turkic World Transplantation Society will continue until November 3.
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