Surgeons urge public to register as donors • 500 patients await kidney transplants
KUWAIT: Victims of a recent alcohol poisoning tragedy in Kuwait have helped save multiple lives through organ donation, doctors said.
The incident, linked to tainted drinks, affected 160 people and caused 23 deaths, mostly among Asian nationals. At least 51 patients required urgent kidney dialysis and 31 needed mechanical ventilation, the Health Ministry said last week. Authorities have since arrested 67 people accused of producing and distributing the illicit alcohol.
In an interview with KTV, Dr Mustafa Al-Mousawi, a leading transplant surgeon and Chairman of Kuwait’s Organ Transplant Center, said about 20 people were admitted to intensive care.
“Some were declared brain dead, others suffered cardiac arrest. Of the 12 diagnosed with brain death, we contacted families and obtained ten approvals. From those ten approvals, we collected 20 kidneys, three hearts, four livers, and two lungs,” he told state television last week. All organs were transplanted, except for the lungs, which were deemed non-viable after testing.
The livers were sent to Abu Dhabi to treat Kuwaiti patients, as Kuwait’s liver transplant program is temporarily halted. Hearts and kidneys were transplanted locally. “During the last five days, we successfully performed three heart transplants on Kuwaiti patients,” said Dr Badr Al-Ayyad, a cardiac surgery specialist.
Dr Al-Mousawi explained that organs are taken from patients declared brain-dead, who remain on artificial ventilation and heart-stimulating medication for a limited time after death is diagnosed. This window, usually two to three days, allows medical teams to contact families for consent.
In many cases, relatives live outside Kuwait, requiring video calls or phone communication. In other cases, a close family member in Kuwait is approached directly. Once the family understands and accepts the diagnosis of brain death, doctors can request organ donation and proceed with the operation. Doctors in Kuwait assess each organ carefully to determine whether it is suitable for transplant. Dr Al-Mousawi said criteria vary by organ.
For kidneys, blood tests check for toxins and measure creatinine levels; normal readings indicate that the kidney is functioning properly and can be transplanted. Liver assessment relies on both blood tests, which measure enzyme levels and bilirubin, and imaging such as ultrasound to check for fat accumulation or fibrosis. In some cases, the final determination of suitability is made during surgery.
Heart evaluation is more complex, Dr Al-Ayyad said. “It involves reviewing the donor’s medical history, including conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and smoking, as well as the cause of death, particularly whether the heart stopped before or after brain death,” he said.
Lungs undergo a multi-step assessment, Dr Issa Al-Ghunaim said. Doctors take samples from the airways through bronchoscopy, then perform an oxygen challenge to see how well the lungs transfer oxygen into the blood and finally use CT scans to evaluate lung size and structure. Timing is critical, as the medical team generally has two to three days after brain death is diagnosed to obtain family consent and complete these evaluations before proceeding with transplantation.
500 patients waitlisted
Over the past few years, Kuwait has lagged behind other Gulf nations in transplants beyond kidneys, but young, dedicated teams are now closing the gap, said Dr Al-Mousawi. In the past month alone, doctors carried out 28 kidney transplants, made possible through both living and deceased donors.
Still, the need remains great. Around 500 patients are currently on Kuwait’s kidney transplant waiting list, with wait times ranging from six months to three years depending on blood type. The number of available donors does not match the demand.
Doctors stressed the importance of raising awareness about organ donation from a young age. “We need to teach children about organ donation from primary school to high school,” Al-Mousawi said.
He added that Kuwait could benefit from adopting a system similar to some European countries, where everyone is considered a donor unless they opt out.
He urged the public to register as organ donors, noting a preference for posthumous donations over living donations. “I am against donation from living donors for high-risk organs like the liver,” Al-Mousawi said. “It’s better to use organs from deceased donors. This is the last chance to do a good deed in this world — a form of ongoing charity.”
He cited Kuwaiti Islamic scholar Ajeel Alnashmi, who described organ donation as one of the greatest forms of everlasting charity, or sadaqa jariya.
The Transplant Center is currently working with the Ministry of Health to introduce a simplified digital registration form through the Sahel app, making it easier for residents to record their wish to donate after death. “We encourage everyone to donate their organs instead of burying them and letting them go to waste,” he said.
