KIGALI - King Faisal Hospital, Kigali (KFH-K) will, this week, conduct the first Kidney transplant, Juliet Mbabazi, the CEO of KFH,K announced.  She revealed that the hospital has gained the capacity to address national, regional and continental needs in kidney transplant.

"The hospital has gone through a training process and availed adequate equipment to enable our medical team to provide better care to patients with kidney related illnesses in Rwanda and in the Region,” Mbabazi said.

The kidney transplant operation will also be the first in the region. The announcement was made after the hospital, on Thursday, successfully carried out the first laparoscopic radical prostatectomy operation in the country. The operation, used to treat Prostate cance, follows the recent opening of a Uro-Nephrology Centre at the hospital.

According to the hospital, the surgery was carried out with assistance from a team of medical experts from the Medway Maritime Hospital in London.

The patient is reported to be in stable condition and recovering according to plan.

Dr. Emille Rwamasirabo, the Urologist at KFH,K, said that the technique used in the operation ensured minimal surgical trauma, very little blood loss, shorter hospital stay and quicker recovery of the patient.

"This specialized operation done in Rwanda for the first time marks the beginning of similar operations to be done here in the near future,” Rwamasirabo said.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the operation was transmitted and broadcast live to doctors and medical students at the Kigali University Teaching Hospital and the Butare Teaching Hospital, through the hospital’s tele centre facilities - one of the ministry’s strategies to strengthen e-health and bridge the geographical gap.

The medical team will also perform the surgical procedures on the kidney patients.

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