Turkey among top 3 countries in organ transplant

By Gulsem Adam

ANTALYA, Turkey (AA) - Turkey is among the top three countries in organ transplant, according to a Turkish official.

“Turkey ranks high in the world, we're in the top three in organ transplant,” Ahmet Tekin, an official from the Turkish Ministry of Health, told Anadolu Agency in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.

Nearly 5,600 organs were transplanted in 2018, while the expectation is to reach 6,000 operations this year, Tekin said.

Tekin stressed that Organ Transplant Center in Antalya’s Akdeniz University is a prominent healthcare facility in Turkey.

“Organ transplant was performed by robotic methods for the first time in Akdeniz University. In our country, these surgeries are performed here and there, but they will eventually be routine everywhere,” he added.

Doctors in Akdeniz University drew public attention by performing successful face, arm, and uterus transplants. They are the first doctors in the world to have done 10 composite tissue transplants.

Tekin said that many foreign patients come to Turkey for health tourism, especially organ transplant.

He went on to say that the country’s health tourism income is currently around $1.5-2 billion.

*Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur