UAE's organ utilisation rate among highest in the world

Organ utilisation rate (ORU) in the UAE stands at 4.2, which is one of the highest in the world, according to an expert in the country. Dr Maria Gomez, Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation at the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) called it "good news" for the UAE.

The ORU reflects the actual number of organs that are successfully used for transplantation from a dead person. Speaking at an event to launch a pediatric liver transplant centre at the Kings College Hospital London, Dubai, Dr Maria explained how this was possible.

“It is because of the medical team,” she said. “They give time for the donor’s organs to improve their functions, which helps us retrieve the organs. We also have international collaboration where we help our neighbouring countries with organs. We are bringing organs from Kuwait and transplanting them here and we are sharing organs with Saudi Arabia. We also have a bilateral collaboration with Pakistan in this field.”

The UAE has a National Programme for Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissue called Hayat, which allows any adult in the UAE holding an Emirates ID to register their desire to donate organs after brain death. One donor can save up to eight lives with their donations.

Ukranian national Nadiia Musiuk was given a grim outlook when her liver began to fail due to an autoimmune disease. She went on to become the first patient at the Kings College Hospital London, Dubai, to receive a donor liver in November 2023. “This year, I was able to celebrate my son’s 13th birthday because of that donation,” she said. “I am so incredibly thankful to the family of that donor for giving me the gift of life, the gift of watching my son grow up.”

Nadia said that before being ill, when she wanted to register in the donor registry, her husband was not convinced. However, after her illness, he supported her and she has registered in the Hayat program. “I try to tell people my story and how organ donation saved my life,” she said. “If anyone needs any convincing that they need to sign up to donate, let my story be the proof of how many lives a donation can touch.”

Dr Hanan Obaid from the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said that the UAE’s diversity was also reflected in their organ donations program. “Right now, we have 54 nationalities that have either benefitted or contributed to organ donations in the country,” she said. “With over 200 nationalities living in the country, we want these nationalities to come together for this program.”

Kimberley Pierce, CEO of Kings College Hospital London, Dubai, explained how organ transplants in the UAE work. “There is an electronic transplant registry and all patients have to go on that registry,” she said. She explained that all patients who required liver transplants were assessed by the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score.

“The MELD score is basically saying how sick that liver is in that patient,” she said. “The higher the MELD score, the sicker the patient and this score is noted in the registry. When a liver becomes available, it will normally go to the sickest patient and that's governed by the National Transplant Centre. No hospital can influence who goes first as it’s done at a national level and based on the score.”