Introduction: The landscape of organ transplantation in Libya has experienced significant fluctuations over the past decades. Initially since it is launched in 2004 the Libyan national program for organ transplantation demonstrated promising growth achieving a rate of 11.3 transplants per million per year by 2010, with all procedures involving living donors and focusing exclusively on kidney transplants. However, the ensuing internal conflict severely impacted the program, leading to a noticeable decline in transplantation activities, this study provides a personal narrative on the efforts to re-launch and upgrade the program amidst these challenges. culminating in establishment of Libyan National General Authority for Organ, Tissue and cell transplantation.
Methods: The study adopts a quantitative approach, detailing the strategic steps taken to rejuvenate the National transplantation program, these steps include legislative reform. Infrastructure enhancement, public awareness campaigns, and international collaboration to adopt best practice. The methodology underscores the pivotal role of leadership in navigating the program through the complexities of post conflict recovery and health system reform.
Results: Since the re-launch of the Libyan National General Authority for Organ, Tissue and cell transplantation in 2020 as a replacement of the Libyan National program for organ transplantation, the authority shows improvement till 2023, when the revamped program marked a significant milestones, conducting, 45 kidney transplants, which translates to a rate of 6.5 transplants per million per year, this achievement, though not not restoring the program to its peak performance, signifies a notable recovery and a positive trajectory in the context of the country's ongoing challenges.
Conclusion: The re-launch of the Libya's organ transplantation program and its subsequent upgrade into a national authority represent a critical step forward in health reform and service delivery in a post-conflict setting. Despite not fully recovering to pre-war transplantation rate, the program revitalization underscores the potential for health system resilience and the importance of strategic leadership in overcoming adversity. The experience highlights significant implications for health policy, system reform and the broader field of organ transplantation within challenging environments. Future efforts will focus on expanding the scope of transplants beyond kidneys, enhancing donor registration and continuing to build capacity for a sustainable increase in transplantation rates.