Gaza to start performing kidney transplant surgeries by end of 2023

The Director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, said the hospital will start performing kidney transplant operations by the end of the year.

The news came during a press tour of the newly renovated emergency department, which cost $1 million.

Abu Salmiya explained that the only obstacle to performing the kidney transplant operation is finding the matching tissues which requires conducting analyses in the West Bank and Israel which takes time.

He explained that the hospital’s emergency department used to receive about 700-900 cases per day, “but today it receives more than 1,200 cases”, while the number of daily surgeries has increased from 80 to 120.

The hospital carries out 350 dialysis sessions per day while the outpatient clinics receive 850 patients per day, he said, adding: “We are talking about 10,000 people who visit the hospital daily, and this confirms that the complex has become a real lever for health work in Gaza.”

Though health care indicators in the hospital are better than some stable countries, Abu Salmiya explained, the lack of medicines and medical consumables is “still a concern”.

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