Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz sent a telegram to the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz AL Rabeeah thanking him and his staff for succeeding in performing the first autologous stem cell transplants in the Ministry of Health conducting in King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam. Dr.AL Rabeeah expressed his gratefulness to His Highness; mentioning the great support of His Highness, His Crown Prince and the Second Deputy toward the health sector. In addition, he assured that the Ministry is dedicated to invest this support in fulfilling leaders' expectations and citizens' health needs.
Moreover, a medical team in King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam conducted two successful transplants, considered the first of their kind in the Ministry of Health hospitals in the kingdom. The operations were conducted on two patients suffering from a plasma blood tumor by an autologous stem cell transplant. These two operations were done by using techniques that are highly precise in assembling, observing and returning stem cells into the patient's body. The medical and technical team was able to assemble stem cells and provide them the necessary preparations treatments, and then transplanting the cells in the body within record time of 4 weeks.
This important step is one of many successful steps, which forms as a whole a qualitative improvement in the level of specialized health service. That has contributed directly in limiting travel among the kingdom looking for treatment. The hospital managed to treat 2500 new cancer cases since the beginning of providing cancer treatment, including 900 new cases during year 2009.
Moreover, the hospital has accomplished a new achievement regarding transplant patients, where it successfully performed 105 organ transplantations. The transplantations included 89 kidney transplantations, 7 liver transplantation and 9 pancreas transplantations, in which King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam is considered a pioneer in the Gulf region and the only hospital in the kingdom that is specialized in pancreas transplantation.
King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam is considered one of the medical cities that contribute effectively in implementing the strategy of the Ministry of Health to provide complex and advanced health services. That is within the framework of the national project for integrated and comprehensive health care. The project has recently received U.S JCI accreditation certificate and currently it is in the final stages to be recognized for its high-quality laboratories by the U.S. laboratory commission.