AN HIV-positive man battling uremia, and who received a kidney transplant, was discharged from the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center yesterday.

The 52-year-old suffered from genetic kidney disease. Four years ago, he began to receive hemodialysis treatment at the center.

He went to see the director of the center Zhu Tongyu, who told him that the risk of infection was high for an HIV patient with low immunity.

The man’s wife agreed to donate her kidney. After receiving the necessary approval, a team of doctors carried out the transplant on October 23.

The man suffered from a lung infection after the surgery, but made a quick recovery. “I am very grateful to the doctors and nurses,” said the patient. “They give me a new lease of life.”

The medical procedure was the first of its kind in the city.