Saudi hospital has become a global leader in organ transplants

KFSHRC successfully performs 1,092 organ transplants in a year. (Supplied)
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Updated 15 October 2024
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Saudi hospital has become a global leader in organ transplants

  • Over 9,000 organ transplants since 1981 and 1,092 in 2023
  • World’s first fully robotic liver, heart replacement surgeries

RIYADH: has become a world-leading facility for organ transplantation.

KFSHRC’s Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence has garnered international acclaim for its expertise in solid-organ transplants, including liver, kidney and lung procedures, said the hospital in a statement on Monday.

In the past year, the hospital successfully conducted 1,092 transplants.

KFSHRC has performed a series of groundbreaking surgeries, most notably the world’s first liver transplant from a living donor using robotic technology in both organ retrieval and implantation.

Building on this success, the surgical team recently completed the world’s first fully robotic heart transplant, further solidifying Saudi Arabia’s position as a global leader in healthcare innovation.

Since the program’s inception in 1981, the hospital has performed 9,000 successful transplants.

Recognizing the critical challenge of donor-patient compatibility, particularly in kidney transplants, KFSHRC established the pioneering Kidney Paired Donation program.

This program facilitates the exchange of living donors with incompatible blood types and tissues between multiple patients, significantly increasing the pool of available organs and reducing waiting times.

The KPD program has enabled KFSHRC to perform over 5,000 kidney transplants.

KFSHRC’s commitment extends beyond the transplant surgery itself. Understanding prevention’s crucial role in patient well-being, the hospital established a specialized vaccination clinic for solid-organ transplant recipients in 2023.

This clinically tailored vaccination plans for each patient’s unique immune status and type of transplant, minimizes the risk of infections that could compromise outcomes.

The clinic has already served over 150 patients, achieving a high compliance rate for the Shingrix vaccine.

For the second consecutive year, KFSHRC has secured the top spot in the Middle East and Africa, and ranks 20th among the world’s top 250 academic medical centers.

Brand Finance recognized the facility as the most valuable healthcare brand in the Middle East for 2024.

Newsweek magazine also included the facility among the world’s best 250 hospitals and in the World’s Best Smart Hospitals list for 2025.


Saudi Arabia welcomes US decision to designate Muslim Brotherhood as global terrorist entity

Updated 50 min 54 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia welcomes US decision to designate Muslim Brotherhood as global terrorist entity

  • The Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on X the Kingdom affirms its condemnation of extremism and terrorism

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday welcomed a decision by the United States to designate the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as a global terrorist organization.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X: “The Kingdom affirms its condemnation of extremism and terrorism, and its support for all that achieves the security of Arab countries, their stability and prosperity, and the security of the region and the world.”

The US administration labeled the groups in Jordan and Egypt as “specially designated global terrorists,” and blacklisted the Lebanese organization as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

The decision on Tuesday came weeks after President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing his administration to start the process of blacklisting the groups.