Over 1,000 people volunteer to donate organs

The program was organized by the National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Transplantation (Center for Organ Transplants), the Vietnam Red Cross, Organizations for Mobilization of Organs and Tissues Donation in collaboration with Nam Dinh province.

Alongside honoring the donors and their families, this event aimed to call on the community to be more aware of tissues and organs donation, mobilize more people to donate their organs after their deaths to save more living patients with organ failures.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien said that the demand for tissue and organ transplants in Vietnam is very high as tens of thousands of people suffer from organ failures. However, the source of donated tissues and organs is very limited. Many patients have been struggling to survive and some have died due to the shortage of donated tissues and organs.

“There are more than 10,000 people suffering organ failures in Vietnam. 300,000 people suffer from corneal disease, approximately 6,000 people with chronic kidney failure await kidney transplants,” said Prof. Trinh Hong Son, Director of Viet Duc Hospital, Director of the Center for Organ Transplants.

Vietnam’s healthcare sector has significantly improve its capacity to conduct organ transplants in recent years. It has equaled other countries’ level although having started the work decades later.  Kidney, liver and heart transplants are now regularly conducted in many healthcare centers, and normally the cost is only one third compared to other countries. The country has 17 healthcare facilities that are capable of transplanting tissues and organs. The 17 centers have so far performed more than 2,500 transplants, including two multi-organ transplants of kidneys and the pancreas, and heart and lung.