Mohammad Dawood Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation reported there are around 18,000 patients with renal failure in the Kingdom. The general head of the center Dr. Faisal Shaheen said the number includes Saudis and non-Saudis who went through all types of dialysis. “There are also 6,000 patients on the waiting list for kidney transplants. He added the Kingdom has advanced in many medical subfields and not just in nephrology and kidney diseases. “We can also detect cardiovascular diseases and treat these diseases via preventive medicine. “If the patient controls his blood sugar and maintain a regulated and healthy lifestyle, we can heal him completely of many of these diseases.” He also said the Kingdom has a very level rate of people with renal conditions while most countries in the world are witnessing an increase. “We do suffer from a lack of donors, hence we have a very long waiting list of organ transplant patients. We do not have the appropriate and efficient facilities to operate an organ transplant operation and we do not have enough brain dead patients who can be organ donors.” He added the Kingdom is the fourth country in the world to have living liver and kidney donors but the 44th in the world to have brain dead donors. “We are trying to raise awareness about the issue within the society.
