Dr Shanila Laiju, group chief executive officer of Medcare Hospitals & Medical Centres, said completing the first transplant and launching the Transplant Centre marked a defining moment for the organisation. She said the fact that the first patient travelled from overseas showed the confidence being placed in the UAE's healthcare system.

Dr Gourab Sen, director of the hepatobiliary unit and transplant services at Medcare Hospital Sharjah, said kidney transplantation is a complex pathway that begins long before surgery and continues throughout the recipient's life.

He said the centre has been built around internationally recognised transplant practices, with emphasis on patient selection, donor safety, infection prevention, immunosuppression management and long-term graft monitoring.

Dr Jishan Mathadil, COO of Medcare Hospital Sharjah Cluster, called the transplant a proud milestone and reaffirmed the hospital's commitment to expanding healthcare services across Sharjah and the northern emirates.

The Medcare Transplant Programme brings together expertise across transplant surgery, nephrology, hepatology, urology, anaesthesia, intensive care, radiology, pathology, infectious diseases, immunology, rehabilitation and long-term patient management, with plans to expand organ transplant services further in future.

World Organ Donation Day is observed on 13 August each year to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation and address misconceptions around organ and tissue donation. The UAE marks the day by highlighting its efforts to regulate organ donation processes in line with high medical and ethical standards.

The country’s National Programme for Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues  (Hayat) has contributed to over 1,195 organ transplant procedures since its launch in 2017, according to the Ministry of Health and Prevention.