(Others) -- Assistant Health Minister Abdel Hamid Abaza said that Health Ministry has not yet made a decision to allow organ transplant from the recently deceased, but is working to legalize the practice by the end of 2013. According to MENA, Abaza said at a press conference that Egyptian patients mostly cannot afford the cost of organ transplant, which exceeds LE180,000 in the case of liver transplants. Abaza said that efforts are being made to find mechanisms to reduce these costs and have hospitals share in them. In 2012, Egypt issued a law that set standards governing the process of organ transplant. Since the law was issued, 2,424 organ transplants were performed, including 624 liver transplants and 1,800 kidney transplants. He added that the ministry inspects the 22 hospitals that carry out transplant surgeries across Egypt. Another 28 hospitals were given a grace period to legalize their status by December in order to be granted permits for transplant surgeries. Abaza also called on the Supreme Council of Journalism to stop the posting of ads that ask for organ donors, saying they are illegal and open the door to organ trafficking.
