A national private organization that aims to create awareness and promote the activation of organ donation and transplantation in Saudi Arabia is in the process of being established. The formation of the Saudi Society for Activation of Organ Donation and Transplantation is being spearheaded by Sheikh Abdulaziz A. Al-Turki, who is also the founding chairman and president of the Saudi Diabetes Society and the Saudi Cancer Foundation. “Our main objective in establishing this society is to create public awareness that organ donation concerns everybody particularly here in the Kingdom,” said Sheikh Al-Turki. He chaired the preliminary meeting that discussed the formation of the Saudi Society for Activation of Organ Donation and Transplantation held Thursday and attended by local and international experts working in organ donation and transplantation. The meeting was attended by Dr. Faisal Shaheen, Director of the Saudi Center for Organs Transplant (SCOT); Dr. Nigel Heaton, Consultant Surgeon and Professor of Transplant Surgery and Director of Liver and Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Unit Kings College Hospital in London, UK; Dr. Mohamed Rela, Consultant Liver Transplant and HPB Surgeon Kings College Hospital in London, UK; and Dr. Fouad Beydoun, President and CEO of the International Association for Organ Donation and Co-Chairman of Harper University Hospital Detroit Medical Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, USA. These international experts endorsed the formation of the Saudi Society for Activation of Organ Donation and Transplantation. Dr. Heaton emphasized the importance of a public information drive in order to reach out to every citizen. He said Saudi Arabia, considering its resources, will emerge as a model for organ donation and transplantation in the region. Dr. Reda said that the acceptance of the Islamic world of the concept of organ donation and transplantation will benefit all in the establishment of the envisioned society. “The Saudi Society for Activation of Organ Donation and Transplantation will be a vehicle in delivering those benefits to the Islamic world,” he said. Dr. Beydoun said that for an organ donation drive to succeed an awareness must be created in all citizens, irrespective of their status in life. “Education is the key,” he stressed. Dr. Shaheen, Director of SCOT, said organ donation is not making many inroads in the Kingdom despite the concerted drive involving all organizations in medical fields, as well as non-government organizations. “Although the Kingdom has been a leader in kidney transplantation, much still needs to be done to help those who are on the waiting lists,” he said. He said there are over 11,000 cases on kidney dialysis that are ready for transplantation but still waiting for suitable organ donations. Sheikh Al-Turki said the Society for Activation of Organ Donation and Transplantation will be a private entity whose tasks include the raising of funds, in addition to its primary objectives of creating awareness on organ donation and transplantation and supporting government programs.
