UAE's Race To Save Lives: Over 280 Patients Await Organ Transplants In Abu Dhabi

More than 280 patients are currently on the waiting list for life-saving organ transplants at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD), according to the hospital's Institute of Surgical Subspecialties. The list includes over 200 people in need of kidney transplants, 50 waiting for liver transplants, 20 for lungs, and 12 for hearts.

Dr Bashir Sankari, Institute Chief, Urology, Integrated Surgical Institute at CCAD, said the surge reflects growing awareness of local transplant services and a shortage of suitable donors. "Blood type is a critical factor in waiting times," he explained.

Kidney patients with blood type AB typically wait around three months, while those with type B may wait six months to a year. Type A patients wait one to two years, and type O - the most common blood group - can wait three to five years, compared to eight to ten years in the US.

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Despite the growing waiting list, Dr Usman Ahmad, Division Chair, Thoracic Surgery, Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute at CCAD, emphasised that outcomes in the UAE are world-class. Since launching the country's first multi-organ transplant centre in 2017, CCAD has performed more than 936 transplants with a 95 per cent patient survival rate. These include:

• 415 kidney transplants (182 living donors, 233 deceased donors)

• 397 liver transplants (34 living donors, 363 deceased donors)

• 70 lung transplants

• 38 heart transplants

• 16 pancreas transplants

The hospital has also carried out highly complex combined procedures, including 36 liver-and-kidney transplants, 16 kidney-and-pancreas transplants, and rare heart-lung and heart-kidney operations.

CCAD credits technological advances for expanding the pool of usable organs and supporting critically ill patients. Advanced organ preservation machines can maintain donor organs for hours outside the body, allowing assessment and repair before transplant. ECMO, a heart-lung bypass system, sustains critically ill patients until suitable organs become available.

The hospital is also training the next generation of transplant specialists. A new fellowship launching in January will train three Emirati women physicians in transplant surgery - a key step in building local expertise and embedding culturally informed patient care.

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