RIYADH: King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has praised the Ministry of Health for the two successful autologous stem cell transplants recently conducted at King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam. In a telegram to Abdullah Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health, the King expressed his gratitude to the ministry and its staff and asked that “Allah grant us success in all that serves the interest of our religion and country”. Minister Al-Rabeah responded by lauding the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince for their support of the health sector. “The ministry works to invest that support in realizing the aspirations of the leaders and meeting the needs of the public to, God willing, raise the standard of health services,” Al-Rabeah said. It was reported early November that King Fahd Specialist Hospital had successfully performed stem cell transplant operations on two patients suffering from blood plasma tumors, the first ever at a Ministry of Health hospital. Stem cell transplants introduce new cells into damaged tissue to treat disease or injury. Transplants can use cells from the patient's own body (autologous stem cell transplant), or from donors (allogenic stem cell transplant). King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam admits on average one blood cancer patient per week.
