Proceedings of the First Annual Saudi Transplant Congress 2025: Bridging Disciplines and Driving Real-World Impact in Organ Donation and Transplantation through Shared Quality Learning and Innovation

The inaugural Saudi Transplant Congress (Riyadh, April 29–May 1, 2025), organized by the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation (SCOT), convened over 900 diverse stakeholders to strengthen the Kingdom’s national transplant ecosystem. Highlighting a holistic approach that integrates science, ethics, and policy, the congress proceedings provide 42 evidence-based recommendations across four thematic areas: enhancing organ donation and procurement, advancing clinical outcomes, establishing robust ethical frameworks, and fostering innovation and infrastructure. An associated Organ Donation Forum enriched these discussions by bringing together religious leaders, practitioners, and community representatives. Their papers provided a unified religious perspective that confirms the permissibility of donation as a righteous act aligned with Islamic principles of preserving life. SCOT is undergoing a significant transformation, prioritizing data-driven governance. A key milestone was the launch of the Unified Platform for Organ Donation and Transplantation (Athar), which will integrate and govern processes across the transplant continuum. Recommendations underscore the need for national standardization, artificial intelligence integration for efficiency, and fortified multidisciplinary care. The congress also emphasized that implementing human factors strategies and culturally informed practices is fundamental to achieving clinical excellence and reducing staff burnout. The recommendations offer a comprehensive blueprint for realizing SCOT’s strategic vision and its aspiration to position Saudi Arabia as a global leader in accessible, efficacious, and ethically sound transplant medicine, aligning with the health transformation goals of Vision 2030.