In a milestone achievement surgeons at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) completed the country’s first-ever cadaveric kidney transplant from a clinically dead woman to two separate patients successfully on Wednesday night. BSMMU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Md Sharfuddin Ahmed, also president of National Cadaveric Transplant Committee, revealed this at a press conference at Dr Milon auditorium on Thursday. He said they took the kidneys from the 20-year-old  Sara Islam at the intensive care unit, who was earlier declared clinically dead on Wednesday afternoon, after her mother gave her consent for the operation. The VC said a team of surgeons led by Dr Md Habibur Rahman Dulal, a professor of urology department at the BSMMU, conducted the kidney transplant operation for around six hours from 10:30pm to 4.30am on Wednesday night. The operation was completed successfully in association with the Anesthesia, analgesia and Intensive Care Medicine departments, he said. Read more: Kidney donation: A noble act that can save lives of millions   The kidney donor Sarah who was admitted to the hospital four days ago while the recipients of the kidneys were two female patients recovering well after the surgery, the VC said. Separate surgeries were conducted at the BSMMU and National Kidney Foundation to transplant the kidneys.  One of the kidney recipients was 34-year-old Mirpur resident Shamima Akter and another one the patient at the Kidney Foundation. Apart from this, the cornea of the donor was transplanted to eye patients successfully, he said.  The VC said the brain-death is called the ICU patients whose brains get inactive while those who have no possibility of getting back their lives are cadaveric.    The cadaveric patients can donate their organs unless they are affected with cancer, hepatitis, HIV and other diseases, he said. The namaz-e-janaza of Sara was held in front of the central mosque of the BSMMU before she was buried at the Azimpur graveyard. Sara, the eldest child of Shahidul Islam and teacher Shabnam Sultana, was the first-year-student of the Fine Arts department at private University of Development Alternative. She was affected with irrecoverable tuberous sclerosis when the latter was only 10 months old. “Sara made history as the first organ donor of the cadaveric kidney transplant in the country,” he said, adding that her courage will encourage dying people to donate organs. Many  can be brought to normal life through donation of organs by the cadaveric patients, he observed. The VC thanked the operation head Dr Dulal and his team for becoming successful in the mission. Dr Md Saiful Hossain Dhipu, Dr Faruk Hossain, Dr Kartik Chandra Ghosh, Dr Debashis Banik, Dr Debabrata Banik, Dr Dilip Bhowmick and Dr Md Ashrafuzzaman among others took part in the operation.  Read more: Organ Donation by Living Donor: Which organs can be donated while alive?  

The United Nations is hosting a high-level donors conference on Monday to drum up emergency funds for Afghanistan after last month’s Taliban takeover of the country that stunned the world. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was leading the world body’s call for more than $600 million for the rest of this year in a “flash appeal” for Afghans after their country’s government was toppled by the Taliban and U.S. and NATO forces exited the 20-year war in a chaotic departure. There are concerns that instability and upended humanitarian efforts, compounded by an ongoing drought, could further endanger lives and plunge Afghanistan toward famine. Also read: Afghanistan on brink of universal poverty: UN The conference will put to the test some Western governments and other big traditional U.N. donors who want to help everyday Afghans without handing a public relations victory or cash to the Taliban, who ousted the internationally backed government in a lightning sweep. The U.N. says “recent developments” have increased the vulnerability of Afghans who have already been facing decades of deprivation and violence. A severe drought is jeopardizing the upcoming harvest, and hunger has been rising. The U.N.’s World Food Program is to be a major beneficiary of any funds collected during Monday’s conference. Along with its partners, the U.N. is seeking $606 million for the rest of the year to help 11 million people. Coinciding with Monday’s conference in Geneva, the head of the U.N. refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, made a previously unannounced visit to Kabul. He wrote on Twitter that he would assess humanitarian needs and the situation of 3.5 million displaced Afghans — including over 500,000 who have been displaced this year alone. Also read: Taliban guard airport as most NATO troops leave Afghanistan Officials at UNHCR have expressed concerns that some people could try to seek refuge in what have been traditional havens for fleeing Afghans in neighboring Pakistan and Iran, which both have large populations of Afghans who had fled their country earlier to escape war and violence. The Taliban seized power on Aug. 15, the day they overran Kabul after capturing outlying provinces in the blitz campaign. They initially promised inclusiveness and a general amnesty for former opponents, but many Afghans remain deeply fearful of the new rulers. Taliban police officials have beaten Afghan journalists, violently dispersed women’s protests and formed an all-male government despite saying initially they would invite broader representation. The world has been watching closely to see how Afghanistan under a Taliban government might be different from the first time the Islamic militants were in power, in the late 1990s. During that era, the Taliban imposed a harsh rule of their interpretation of Islamic law. Girls and women were denied an education, and were excluded from public life. Also on Monday, a Pakistan International Airlines plane charted by the World Bank landed at Kabul’s airport to evacuate more people, according to Abullah Hafeez Khan, a spokesman for the airline. Pakistan has halted commercial flights to Kabul because of security reasons, and the airline has no plans so far to resume commercial flights. Last Thursday, an estimated 200 foreigners, including Americans, left Afghanistan on a Qatar Airways flight out of Kabul with the cooperation of the Taliban — the first such large-scale departure since U.S. forces completed their frantic withdrawal on Aug. 30. Many thousands of Afghans remain desperate to get out, too, afraid of what Taliban rule might hold. The Taliban have repeatedly said foreigners and Afghans with proper travel documents could leave. But their assurances have been met with skepticism, and many Afghans have been unable to obtain certain paperwork. Abdul Hadi Hamdani, head of Kabul’s airport, said Monday that all domestic flights were back to their regular schedule but that “some technical problems need to be solved” before international flights can resume. Members of the border police who previously worked at the airport have been called back to resume their duties.