Associate Professor Dong Van He, Director of the National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Transplantation under the Ministry of Health revealed this at a conference to develop the ‘Network of Organ and Tissue Donation Consultants’ in the Southern region organized by Cho Ray Hospital coordinated with the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center.
Associate Professor Dong Van He said that after 32 years of Vietnam’s performance of the first organ transplant and 14 years of organ transplants from brain-dead donors, the country has only performed more than 8,365 human tissue and organ transplants. Currently, the country has nearly 4,000 people on the national organ transplant waiting list, mainly patients waiting for kidney and liver transplants.
According to Associate Professor Dong Van He, in developed countries, the rate of organ donation and transplantation, tissue transplantation from brain-dead people is very high, from 50 percent to 60 percent, and even in many countries such as Spain and France with grafting rates up to 90 percent.
In Vietnam, the number of organ transplant recipients is limited. Only 0.15 percent of brain-dead people agree to donate organs according to statistics in 2023. Moreover, currently, only more than 80,000 people registered to donate organs nationwide and the number of organ donors for transplant is mainly from living people accounting for 94 percent – 95 percent. The Vietnamese government has not yet approved the proposal to transplant organs from people with cardiac death, said Associate Professor Dong Van He.
Associate Professor Dong Van He said that according to statistics from 1,500 hospitals nationwide, each year there are only 11 brain-dead organ donation cases. The scarcity of organ sources is the fundamental factor that makes Vietnam's organ transplant activities ineffective.
Due to the lack of tissues and organs, 26 organ and tissue transplant facilities have not taken heed of investment. About four hospitals carry out over 100 transplants a year while some places transplant 1-2 transplants per week. Worse, many hospitals have to stop organ transplants because there are no organs for transplant.
Speaking at the conference, Director of Cho Ray Hospital Nguyen Tri Thuc said that in developed countries, organ donation has become quite popular. However, in Vietnam, there are still many people who do not fully understand this noble meaning meanwhile, tens of thousands of people in the whole country are waiting for tissue and organ transplants to maintain life. It is necessary to raise understanding, change attitudes, and attract the attention of the community, Dr. Nguyen Tri Thuc informed.
He also said that the human organ transplant coordination unit at Cho Ray Hospital has so far received more than 47,000 organ donation registration applications.
On this occasion, the Vietnamese Organ and Tissue Donation Campaign decided to establish the Vietnamese Organ and Tissue Donation Campaign Branch at Cho Ray Hospital.
