{"id":16855,"date":"2026-02-13T19:58:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T17:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=16855"},"modified":"2026-10-24T14:58:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:58:49","slug":"human-tissue-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/human-tissue-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"A Human Tissue Bank and Skin Donation: Why Does Egypt Import What Its Citizens Could Donate?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The proposal for “donating human skin and tissue after death” is facing controversy in Egypt, following parliamentary <\/span>demands<\/span><\/a> for the establishment of a national tissue bank to provide therapeutic alternatives for cases of severe burns. The proposal aims to reduce the costs of importing tissue from abroad, which<\/span> amount <\/span><\/a>to about EGP 1 million (USD 21,000) per case.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the passing of the<\/span> Law<\/span><\/a> on Organ Transplantation No. 5 of 2010 and <\/span>its amendments<\/span><\/a> in 2017, and on the basis of <\/span>Article 61 <\/span><\/a>of the Egyptian Constitution, which classifies the donation of organs and tissue as “a gift of life” and obliges the state to regulate its rules, the absence of implementing mechanisms and organ banks has prevented these legal and constitutional provisions from being activated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Human rights lawyer Malek Adly, director of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, attributes this paralysis to the law’s lack of a real administrative and technical structure, despite the issuance of its executive regulations in 2011. Adly explains that the system still lacks donation banks, unified registers of donors after death, and clear mechanisms for dealing with bodies and setting transplant priorities, affirming that this system has not been built during the 16 years since the law was issued.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement to Zawia3, Adly says that scientific development requires updating the legislation regulating organ transplantation to keep pace with preservation, donation, automation and data management techniques, in a way that ensures control and transparency. He points out the absence of any announced means enabling citizens to register their wish to donate their organs after death.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adly believes that the absence of these mechanisms goes beyond organisational shortcomings to reflect a gap between the legal text and practical application, and an institutional delay in the right-to-health file. He considers that raising any new legislative discussion exposes a chronic defect in the health system, questioning the reasons for the suspension of a law that has existed since 2010 until 2026 without actual application or serious review, in a file that touches on the right to life and health.<\/span><\/p>\n

This gap prompted MP Amira Saber Kandil, a member of the Senate, to submit a proposal to the Minister of Health and Population to establish a national human tissue bank and facilitate the procedures for donating tissue after death. The proposal aims to reduce reliance on imports by launching a pilot project at a specialised hospital and creating a national register of donors, in a way that guarantees the provision of life-saving treatment and saves millions of pounds annually.<\/span><\/p>\n

The MP tells Zawia3 that establishing a tissue bank represents a global model that is followed, affirming that tissue donation is a necessary medical procedure to save lives and not a cosmetic luxury. She explains that most deaths from third-degree burns in Egypt involve children whose injuries exceed 50% of the body’s surface, cases that require human skin grafts whose import cost per case reaches about EGP 1 million.<\/span><\/p>\n

She adds that her proposal covers tissue of all kinds, such as corneas and heart valves, considering the broadening of discussion on this file a step towards guaranteeing the right to treatment. She affirms that Egypt has no tissue banks despite the Organ Transplantation Law having been issued 16 years ago, which requires reopening the discussion legislatively and executively.<\/span><\/p>\n

The MP is currently working on a legislative impact assessment study of Law No. 5 of 2010 to evaluate its application and identify its shortcomings, and to determine the amendments required to documentation mechanisms and donation procedures. She points out that the absence of a unified national register of donors represents a major obstacle preventing the wishes of donors from being carried out after death or linked to hospitals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The MP holds the Ministry of Health responsible for the absence of a national tissue bank, describing it as institutional negligence. She stresses the need for the bank to be subject to the supervision and oversight of the ministry while allowing parliamentary oversight to ensure transparency and prevent exploitation, with a commitment to protecting donors’ data through cybersecurity technologies and a strict governance system.<\/span><\/p>\n

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