Turkey's Inonu University aiming for Guinness record in liver transplants

A Turkish university in eastern Malatya province has started five simultaneous liver transplantation surgeries, in a bid to set the Guinness World Record on Wednesday.

"We will hold the surgeries on five receivers and five donors in 10 operation rooms today. We hope to bring success to our countries’ agenda …," Professor Dr Sezai Yilmaz said about the procedures at Turgut Ozal Medical Center at Inonu University.

"We have also welcomed other professors as international witnesses on this occasion," Yilmaz added.

As a witness, Dr Sukru Emre from Yale University stated that this operation was important not just for Turkey but also for the world.

"During the 2000s, hundreds of patients flew abroad for organ transplantation but in 2019 hundreds of patients began to prefer Turkey for organ transplantations," Ahmet Tekin, an official from the ministry of health said.

The Turgut Ozal Medical Center at the Inonu University offers approximately 250 transplants annually. It is also where hundreds of people get trained to work in Turkey.

Malatya Governor Aydin Barus said around 2,500 liver transplants have been performed at the medical centre.

Hakan Dogan, a liver transplant patient, said he had been waiting for this operation for over six months.

"We hope to get back to our healthy state as soon as possible," Dogan said.