Israel & UAE: 1st Organ Transplant Exchange

A three-way organ swap took place this week between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, in which family members of three people requiring a transplant donated their kidneys in exchange for kidneys for ailing loved ones. It was the first time an organ exchange took place between the two countries.

In Israel, Shani Markowitz had her kidney removed early on Wednesday morning. The organ was quickly flown to Abu Dhabi, where it was to be transplanted into a local resident. Meanwhile, the kidney of a relative of that same Abu Dhabi resident was removed and transported to Israel for transplantation into a patient whose relative undergoing surgery at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikvah, Greater Tel Aviv and donating a kidney to Markowitz’s mother.

Talks to establish collaboration in the field of organ transplants between the two countries began some six months ago, made possible by the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel and the UAE last September.

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