Hanoi (VNA) – The Hanoi Red Cross Association hascalled on staff members of its units across the city to register as organdonors in a move to popularise the value of humanitarian organ donation in thecommunity.

At the launching ceremony on February 18, theassociation’s chairman Nguyen Sy Truong cited the Ministry of Health’sinformation that since the first organ transplant in Vietnam in 1992, thenumber of such cases has remained low. 

Meanwhile, the number of patients waiting fordonated tissues and organs is growing fast, he said, adding that only a few ofthem have had the opportunity to receive organ transplants due to the scarcityof donors in the country.

Registering to donate organs after death willhelp bring life to patients and create a humane society, Truong said,expressing his hope that the call will receive widespread support from RedCross workers and the public.

In the programme, units of the Hanoi Red Cross Association willstep up communications about organ donation among its staff members and thecommunity via mass media outlets, training courses, and other Red Crossactivities. 

Collectives and individuals with excellentachievements in the communications work, along with organ donors, will also behonoured.

According to the Vietnam National Coordinating Centre forHuman Organ Transplantation under the Ministry of Health, in Hanoi’s majorhospitals alone, around 6,000 patients are in need of a kidney transplant andmore than 1,500 patients are on the waiting list for liver transplants. Over6,000 people need cornea replacements, while heart and lung transplants arecritical to saving hundreds of others.

As of August 31, 2018, the number of brain-dead andcirculatory-dead donors had reached 223, accounting for 6.6 percent of thetotal donors. The majority of organs used in transplantation in Vietnam arefrom living donors. –VNA