In a landmark medical breakthrough for the emirate of Dubai and in a testomony to the synergy between the private and non-private healthcare sectors, a medical group at King’s Faculty Hospital London in Dubai has efficiently carried out the town’s first liver transplant on a 13-month-old baby, with the help of Al Jalila Basis – the philanthropic arm of Dubai Well being.
The profitable transplant marks one other outstanding milestone in Dubai’s relentless quest for healthcare excellence, aligning with the aims of the Dubai Social Agenda 33, which goals to develop a extra environment friendly, high-quality healthcare system in step with the best world requirements.
The advanced and delicate surgical procedure was led by Professor Mohamed Rela, one of many world’s foremost liver transplant surgeons, and was carried out by a multidisciplinary group at King’s Faculty Hospital London in Dubai. Al Jalila Youngsters’s Hospital performed a significant function in making ready for the transplant by offering specialised medical care to each the toddler and his father, who donated a portion of his liver. Al Jalila Youngsters’s additionally carried out cardiac surgical procedure to restore a gap within the baby’s coronary heart – a key step that paved the way in which for the profitable liver transplant.
The kid, named Malek, was born with a uncommon situation referred to as biliary atresia, which precipitated his well being to deteriorate regardless of an earlier surgical process to attach his liver to his intestines. He was additionally recognized with a congenital coronary heart defect (atrial septal defect). He was referred to King’s Faculty Hospital in Dubai by Al Jalila Youngsters’s Hospital, following the cardiac restore process, as a part of its ongoing dedication to supporting crucial humanitarian circumstances and offering superior therapy choices for youngsters inside the UAE.
The collaborative medical intervention by Al Jalila Youngsters’s and King’s Faculty Hospital London in Dubai and the profitable transplant gave the kid a renewed likelihood at life. The surgical procedure was accomplished efficiently, and the affected person was discharged in good well being.
Dr Younis Kazim, Appearing CEO of the Well being Regulation Sector on the Dubai Well being Authority (DHA), mentioned: “The profitable liver transplant for a 13-month-old toddler represents an unprecedented medical achievement for Dubai. It displays the healthcare system’s readiness and talent to deal with essentially the most advanced circumstances with effectivity and professionalism in a dynamic setting that fosters excellence and helps high-value healthcare investments.”
Spirit of partnership
Dr Kazim highlighted the Authority’s dedication to empowering and creating non-public healthcare amenities as key companions in delivering specialised companies. He famous that the DHA allows this by way of superior regulatory frameworks, versatile insurance policies, and continued help to draw prime world expertise, additional reinforcing Dubai’s place as a number one regional and world healthcare hub.
He added that DHA’s efforts to determine complete, internationally-aligned requirements for organ transplant procedures within the UAE are rooted in world greatest practices. These efforts replicate Dubai’s mannequin of excellence in service high quality, transparency, and governance of medical procedures, making certain affected person security, enhancing transplant outcomes, and strengthening belief within the metropolis’s healthcare system.
Dr Kazim concluded by stating that the medical milestone and the built-in care supplied to the younger affected person underscore Dubai’s regular and assured progress in direction of its strategic purpose of changing into the world’s greatest metropolis by way of high quality of life, wellbeing, and healthcare.
Dr Amer Al Zarooni, CEO of Al Jalila Basis, affirmed that the achievement marks a big leap ahead for Dubai’s healthcare sector and displays Dubai Well being’s unwavering dedication to elevating the usual of care in step with the best world requirements.
Dr Al Zarooni expressed his appreciation to all companions concerned within the success of the distinctive process, describing it as a mannequin of collaboration between the private and non-private sectors and charitable organisations. He additionally praised the important function of donors and their invaluable contributions to supporting organ transplant programmes backed by Al Jalila Basis, highlighting their profound influence on the lives of sufferers with crucial medical circumstances.
He famous that Al Jalila Basis coated the complete medical prices for the toddler Malek, together with complete pre- and post-operative care supplied at Al Jalila Youngsters’s Hospital. This help displays the Basis’s ongoing pledge to supply complete healthcare companies to these in want, in step with Dubai Well being’s guideline: Affected person First.
Strategic collaboration
It’s value noting that Al Jalila Basis signed a cooperation settlement with King’s Faculty Hospital London in Dubai throughout Arab Well being 2025. The settlement goals to increase charitable healthcare initiatives within the UAE by supporting organ transplant programmes.
In the meantime, Dr Hanan Ali Obaid, Director of Well being Insurance policies and Requirements on the Dubai Well being Authority, said that the success of Dubai’s first paediatric liver transplant underscores DHA’s dedication to offering a complete regulatory setting that meets the best worldwide requirements of affected person care and security.
Dr Obaid emphasised the Authority’s concentrate on adopting superior and versatile regulatory frameworks that empower healthcare establishments to realize such advanced and exact medical milestones domestically. She defined that Dubai’s organ transplant requirements have been developed in alignment with world greatest practices, conforming to all medical, moral, and humanitarian issues to make sure the efficacy and security of the process aligned with the Authority’s imaginative and prescient, values, and rules, which place the person on the coronary heart of healthcare companies. This achievement is a part of an built-in system that bolsters affected person confidence and reinforces Dubai’s standing as a worldwide hub for specialised healthcare.
Professor Mohamed Rela – who beforehand carried out a liver transplant on a five-day-old toddler, a case recorded within the Guinness World Data because the youngest liver transplant globally – defined that Malek’s situation was notably advanced as a consequence of his younger age, low weight, and a number of well being problems. He emphasised that the profitable consequence highlights the competence of the multidisciplinary medical group and the robustness of the specialised programme, which brings collectively elite consultants, surgeons, hepatologists, anaesthetists, and intensive care consultants to ship holistic, built-in care designed to avoid wasting lives.
Speedy developments
He added that the breakthrough additionally displays the speedy developments within the capabilities of Dubai’s healthcare sector and embodies the hospital’s dedication to realising the emirate’s imaginative and prescient of delivering the best requirements of complete healthcare to all members of society, together with kids.
Dr. Rajeev Tomar, Advisor Paediatrician and Director of the Paediatric Liver Transplant Programme at King’s Faculty Hospital London in Dubai, said that preliminary examinations for the toddler, Malek, confirmed extreme jaundice, liver and spleen enlargement, and extreme malnutrition, indicating {that a} liver transplant was the one choice to avoid wasting his life. He defined that the case was one of the difficult dealt with by the medical group, particularly given the presence of a coronary heart defect, which was efficiently handled at Al Jalila Hospital earlier than performing the liver transplant.
Kimberly Pierce, CEO of King’s Faculty Hospital Dubai, mentioned: “The success of the surgical procedure represents a qualitative shift within the healthcare panorama of the emirate, because the hospital was capable of meet an pressing medical want that beforehand required journey overseas. Now, it’s obtainable domestically, because of the supportive steering and the built-in healthcare system that Dubai embraces.”
Dr. Tashfeen Siddiq Ali, Chief Medical Officer at King’s Faculty Hospital London in Dubai, said that this achievement marks a turning level in Dubai’s journey to changing into a worldwide hub for specialised healthcare.
He added: “It additionally displays the speedy evolution of the healthcare sector’s capabilities and embodies the hospital’s dedication to Dubai’s imaginative and prescient of offering the best requirements of complete healthcare for all members of the group, together with kids.”
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