Since 1970 to date, 4,950 kidney transplants have been performed in Cuba, 436 of which have been from living donors, the national press recently reported.

The procedure with living donors is carried out in of the country’s provinces of Havana; Villa Clara; Holguín; and Santiago de Cuba, where the first operation in this province was performed August 8 at Dr. Juan Bruno Zayas Surgical Hospital, where Yusnay Vázquez Ruiz received a kidney transplant donated by her mother Olga Ruiz Sané.

33 year old Yusnay who, like her mother, lives in the municipality of Contramaestre, was suffering from advanced chronic kidney failure which required her to undergo hemodialysis sessions every other day; resulting in Olga’s decision to give Yusnay her life back, by donating one of her own kidneys.

The delicate procedure - which consists firstly of an operation to extract the kidney from the donor, followed by a surgical procedure to evaluate the organ’s condition, and a final operation to transplant the kidney into the receiving patient - carried out in less than four hours without major complications.