The Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation (SCOT) has reported that the center conducted a total of 940 organ transplantation operations during 2015. Medical director of the center Dr. Bishr Al-Attar said renal failure patients and victims of liver diseases benefited from the operations. "We still have 6,600 patients on the waiting list awaiting organ donors. We try to raise awareness in the community on the importance of organ donation and regularly issue bulletins updating the data on patients who require organ transplants in the Kingdom. We cooperate with hospitals and medical programs in universities to reach out to the greatest number of people," Al-Attar told Makkah daily. He said 6,000 patients are on the waiting list for kidney transplants, while 500 patients require liver transplants and about 100 others need heart transplants. "In 2015, we managed to benefit from the organs of 112 brain dead patients. We successfully conducted 760 kidney transplants and 180 liver transplants," said Al-Attar. He said the center has set up an e-service for immediate notification in the case of any new brain dead patients available. "The service is connected to 30 intensive care units in the Kingdom. Once a brain dead patient is admitted to any of the 30 ICUs, the center is immediately notified. The public's awareness about the ethics of organ donation is generally very weak. The center struggles to assure the brain dead patients' relatives that organ donation does not in any way violate the Shariah," said Al-Attar. He said the center is in need of a bigger budget to be able to finance its monetary reward program for organ donation. "The center aims in the coming year to develop a reward system for intensive care units cooperating with the center. It also aims to assign a coordinating doctor on site at every connected intensive care unit. The center will also offer training sessions on how to handle a brain dead patient," said Al-Attar.
