Egypt softens toward organ donation
After years of initiatives and calls for post-mortem organ donation, the Egyptian government is considering establishing an organ registry and expanding organ transplant surgeries.
CAIRO — The Egyptian government is currently considering a series of measures to facilitate organ donation and transplants.
Egyptian Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar announced in televised statements Sept. 26 that a new transplant center will be established in Egypt as well as a database for donors and patients as part of government efforts to expand organ transplant surgeries in the country.
The announcement was widely welcomed by the medical community and health activists in Egypt.
Dina Reda, 60, the first Egyptian woman to legally document her voluntary wish of posthumous organ donation, was pleasantly surprised by the minister’s statements. “Accepting the idea of organ donation in Egypt has always been far-fetched, but it is time to change this culture,” she told Al-Monitor.
