Israeli Shani Markowitz Manshar, 39, is scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday to donate one of her kidneys to a patient in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates as part of an organ-donation program between the two countries.
According to a report by the UAE publication the Khaleej Times, the procedure involves a three-way kidney exchange where a patient in Haifa will receive a transplant from a donor in the UAE.
Manshar’s mother is also in need of a kidney and will be hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer in Israel.
“There will be more organ transplants and medical tourism like this coming down the line in the next couple of months,” a spokesperson for Sheba told the Khaleej Times.
A delegation from Sheba traveled to the UAE in June to increase cooperation between the two countries, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with health authorities there.
Sheba Medical Center has also agreed to treat 300 patients from the UAE’s security forces, according to the report.
