Historical Overview

  • The Lebanese law No 109/1983 legalizes “donation of human tissues and organs for medical and scientific purposes”. The family’s consent is essential whether the card is present or not.
  • Its practical applications decree No 1442/1984 describes the guidelines of brain death diagnosis, defines the death and the conditions for a renal transplant unit.
  • The first transplantation attempts started with the 1st kidney transplantation in 1972 from a living related donor.
  • The first organ transplantation unit opened in 1985 and the number of units have steadily increased since to reach 18 centers of which: Five for kidney, one for liver and four for heart transplantation are still functioning.
  • In 1990 the first kidney transplant from a deceased donor was performed.
  • In 1999 the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Lebanese Order of Physicians (LOP) took the joint decision to concentrate all efforts in a single, unified organization affiliated to the Ministry of Health: The National Organization for Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation - NODLb. (Ministerial decree 1/509, July 1999)
  • In Dec 2008, a ministerial decree declares that the organ and tissue donation procedure is covered by the MOH.
  • In Jan 2009, a ministerial decree 1/65 has been issued. It defines the administrative board of NOD-Lb and describes the Lebanese system of organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
  • The Lebanese Code of Ethics (Oct 2012, Art 30) gave NOD-Lb the exclusive responsibility of organs, tissues and cells procurement and transplantation in Lebanon.

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