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. 

In 2018, Reda issued a power of attorney in the real estate registry to donate her organs after her death and registered her wish under the statutory registration and documentation procedures. Her move was a first at the time. Since then, she has been promoting ​​post-mortem organ donation to save patients' lives.

Abdel Ghaffar’s statement came following his meeting with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly and head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority Maj. Gen. Hisham el-Swefy.