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The Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation coordinated five organ retrieval procedures from brain-dead donors that enabled life-saving transplants for 12 patients including four children, with four of the retrievals completed inside 48 hours. The operations supplied two hearts, two livers, two lungs and six kidneys for recipients facing end-stage organ failure, the center reported. One child received a heart transplant while another obtained a liver, and two more children were among the six kidney recipients who had depended on dialysis, according to SCOT.
SCOT Director General Dr. Talal Al-Qoufi said the organs were allocated according to established medical ethics and clinical priorities to ensure fair distribution among patients. The achievement reflected close coordination among healthcare authorities, he added while praising the Saudi Air Medical Evacuation Administration and the medical teams involved in Saudi Arabia and abroad. Al-Qoufi expressed gratitude to the families of the deceased donors for their decision to donate their loved ones’ organs, describing their generosity as giving new hope and life to others.
The procedures took place in cooperation with King Abdullah Hospital in Bisha, King Fahad Hospital in Al-Ahsa and the Maternity and Children’s Hospital in Abha inside the kingdom. Coordination also extended to the UAE’s Hayat Organ Donation and Transplant Program under the Gulf Cooperation Council’s organ-sharing program, SCOT stated. All transplants addressed patients who otherwise faced no alternative treatment for their conditions.
SCOT data places the number of organs transplanted from living and deceased donors at 2,091 in 2023, illustrating the scale of the center’s ongoing programs across the kingdom. A review of organ donation patterns cited in regional health literature indicates Saudi Arabia records between two and four deceased donors per million population, leaving considerable scope to enlarge the donor pool through greater public awareness. The center maintains that organ transplantation constitutes the only viable option for many individuals with end-stage failure and helps shorten waiting lists.
Registration or withdrawal from the national organ donation program can be completed through the Tawakkalna platform, SCOT noted in its announcement. The latest operations follow an earlier SCOT-coordinated effort in January 2026 that saved nine patients through donations from brain-dead donors, according to the center’s published updates. Medical institutions continue to work with SCOT to integrate these procedures into routine care for patients across multiple specialties.
