The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with various healthcare sectors, is preparing a new national protocol for organ donation and transplantation aimed at standardizing procedures and connecting donors with patients in need of transplants, hospitals and medical teams.
اضافة اعلان
The protocol seeks to help narrow the gap between the number of patients on transplant waiting lists and the availability of suitable organs.
Health Minister Ibrahim Al-Badour said the protocol is a national project involving various healthcare sectors, noting that Jordan has around 4,900 cases of kidney failure, in addition to patients requiring liver and other organ transplants.
He said expanding transplantation procedures could ease the health burden on patients and healthcare institutions. Living donation can be performed under specific medical conditions and regulations, including donating one kidney or part of the liver in eligible cases.
The protocol is expected to establish a faster and more organized mechanism for urgent transplant cases by defining donation and matching procedures, prioritizing patients and coordinating between hospitals and medical teams.
Sanad Expands Donor Base
The preparation of the protocol comes alongside a Cabinet decision on Sunday to add an organ-donation registration service to the Sanad application. More than 2,300 people registered their willingness to donate within less than a day, according to Sanad Director Mohammad Al-Bataikhi.
While electronic registration represents an important step toward expanding the donor base, the main challenge will be integrating the data into a comprehensive national system linking government hospitals, the Royal Medical Services, university hospitals and the private sector with donor and transplant waiting-list databases.
A national committee comprising the Ministry of Health and relevant authorities is working on the protocol to regulate procedures involving donors and recipients, matching mechanisms, priority criteria and coordination among medical institutions and teams.
Medical Expertise and Waiting Lists
Jordan has accumulated extensive experience in organ transplantation, particularly kidney and liver transplants. In 2025, Prince Hamzah Hospital performed 43 kidney transplants, including five cases involving incompatible blood types between donors and recipients.
The Royal Medical Services' liver transplantation program also has advanced experience, with previously released data showing that 152 liver transplants have been performed since the program was launched.
These achievements demonstrate that expanding transplantation requires not only medical and surgical expertise, but also an adequate number of donors and an effective system capable of delivering the right organ to the right patient at the right time.
Brain Death and the Time Factor
Brain death is one of the most important circumstances contributing to the availability of organs for transplantation, as a deceased donor can potentially help save the lives of multiple patients.
This requires a rapid system for identifying potential donors, completing legal and medical procedures, assessing organ suitability and matching organs with patients on waiting lists.
Time is particularly critical in such cases, requiring an updated national database and an effective 24-hour communication system among hospitals, along with clearly defined responsibilities for all relevant authorities from the diagnosis of brain death through organ retrieval and transplantation.
Existing Legal Framework
Jordan has a legislative framework regulating organ donation and transplantation under the Human Body Organ Utilization Law No. 23 of 1977 and its amendments, in addition to relevant technical regulations and guidelines.
The law prohibits organ trafficking and obtaining organs in exchange for money. Living donations are also subject to medical and legal safeguards to protect donors, ensure their safety and guarantee that consent is given freely.
From Electronic Registration to a National System
The key challenge in the next phase will be turning the organ-donation registration service through Sanad into part of an integrated national system rather than simply a donor database.
The protocol is expected to standardize waiting lists, establish clear criteria for prioritizing patients, connect hospitals and databases, accelerate procedures involving brain-death cases and provide specialized teams to coordinate with donors' families.
With thousands of patients potentially relying on organ transplantation to improve or save their lives, the protocol, if effectively implemented and supported by coordination across sectors, could help Jordan move from successful transplantation programs at specialized centers toward an integrated national donation and transplantation program that expands the donor pool, reduces waiting lists and saves more lives.
Source: Ad-Dustour
