A ceremony was held in Hanoi on June 1 to mark 20 years since the first viscera transplant surgery took place at the Military Hospital 103 (June 4, 1992).
To date, nearly 600 cases of kidney transplant and other liver, heart and stem cell transplant cases have been successfully carried out in 12 of the country’s hospitals.
Organ transplant has in the last few years greatly improved and innovated in its technique and procedure. However, the number of patients who have received organ transplant, to escape from fatal diseases, is small as compared to people still on the waiting list.
According to deputy professor Hoang Manh An, the country has a waiting of 6,000 patients in need of kidney transplant and 4,143 people are suffering from serious liver diseases.
Nguyen Thi Xuyen, deputy minister of Health, said that departments, organisations and individuals should all join hands to raise people’s awareness on viscera donation. The government should encourage and support hospitals to improve organ transplant technology and establish effective organ donation facilities and improve transplant techniques.
To mark 20 years since the first viscera transplant, the staff of Military Hospital 103 were honoured with the third-class Independence Medal for outstanding contribution in the field of viscera transplant.
