A team of British surgeons has carried out Gaza’s（加沙）first organ transplants for a long-term plan to train local medical staff to perform the operations.
Two patients underwent kidney（肾脏）transplants at the Shifa, Gaza’s biggest public hospital. The operations were conducted a fortnight ago by a volunteer medical team from the Royal Liverpool hospital.
Ziad Matouk, 42, was born with one kidney and was diagnosed with renal failure（肾衰竭）several years ago. Matouk, whose wife donated one of her kidneys, hopes to return to his job within six months. The couple had sought a transplant in Cairo, but were rejected as unsuitable at a state hospital and could not afford the fee at a private hospital. “We were desperate,” said Matouk.
The UK-Gaza link-up began about a year ago after Abdelkader Hammad, a doctor at the Royal Liverpool hospital, was contacted by an anaesthetist（麻醉师）at the Shifa, who outlined the difficulties the Gaza hospital was facing with dialysis（透析）. The Shifa is forced to rely on generators because of power cuts; spare parts for its ageing dialysis machines have been difficult to import; and supplies of consumables are often scarce. After an exploratory trip last April, Hammad---whose family is Palestinian---and three colleagues from Liverpool arrived in Gaza via Egypt last month, bringing specialist equipment. Two patients were selected for surgery. The first, Mohammed Duhair, 42, received a kidney donated by his younger brother in a six-hour operation. Two days later, Matouk received a transplant after his wife, Nadia, 36, was found to be a good match. The surgeon was carried out by the British team, assisted by doctors and nurses from the Shifa. “We are very satisfied with the results,” said Sobbi Skaik, head of surgery at the Gaza hospital.
Skaik hopes that Gaza medical teams will eventually carry out kidney transplants independently, and that other organ transplants may follow. The Shifa is working with the Gaza ministry of health on a plan to train its doctors, surgeons, nursing staff and laboratory technicians in transplant surgery at the Royal Liverpool. “Funding is a problem,” said Hammad. “In the meantime we’ll go back as volunteers to Gaza for the next couple of years to do more transplants.” The Liverpool team’s next visit is scheduled for May.
小题1:What effect does Gaza’s first organ transplants hopes to get?
A．Helping poor Gaza people to regain health to make more money.
B．Releasing Gaza hospitals’ pressure of lack of professional doctors.
C．Assisting the Royal Liverpool hospital in perfecting their operations.
D．Calling for international attention at Gaza’s poor medical service.小题2:Why did the state hospital refuse to practice surgeon for Ziad Matouk?
A．Because he couldn’t afford the fee at a public hospital.
B．Because the hospital didn’t accept dangerous patients.
C．Because they couldn’t find a matched organ.
D．Because his condition was untreatable.小题3:What is the beginning of the cooperation between the Royal Liverpool hospital and Gaza?
A．A UK doctor contacted Gaza hospital.
B．The Shifa imported medical machines from UK.
C．Ziad Matouk’s condition seemed to get worse.
D．A Shifa doctor turned to Royal Liverpool hospital for help.小题4:What did Dr. Hammad and his team do recently?
A．They had an exploratory trip in Egypt last April.
B．They carried out surgeries to test Gaza’s medical equipment.
C．They carried out two transplant surgeries in Gaza.
D．They sought assistance from the hospital of the Shifa.
