The Vietnam Young Doctors Association, the Vietnam Association for Organ and Tissue Donation, and the Vietnam Medical Trade Union yesterday afternoon signed a cooperation program to promote and encourage organ donation registration in Hanoi.
At the signing ceremony, Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Tien of the Vietnam Association for Organ and Tissue Donation said that the need for organs from brain-dead people is currently very high, but the supply is very scarce, and the organ donation rate after brain death in Vietnam is the lowest in the world. Therefore, people registering to donate organs and tissues after they die have a special and great significance in saving the lives of patients with terminal illnesses for whom only organ transplants can bring life.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, roughly 1,000 transplants were carried out in 2023 - the highest number of organ transplants in Vietnam, but up to 95 percent of the organs came from living donors, and only 5 percent from brain-dead donors, while other countries have 80-95 percent of organs from brain-dead donors.
Organs from deceased people in Vietnam are being buried in the ground or cremated into ashes, which is a great waste, as these organs could save the lives of many people on the brink of death, said Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien. She added that Viet Duc Hospital has at least 1,000 brain-dead deaths per year. Viet Duc Hospital has done well in encouraging people to donate their organs after brain death, but each year there are only about 10 brain-dead organ donors.
Therefore, in her opinion, the establishment of organ donation counseling teams in hospitals is very necessary, and if every hospital has a counseling team, in the future, the number of organ donors after brain death in Vietnam will increase significantly.
The signing ceremony demonstrates the pioneering role of the Vietnam Medical Trade Union and the Vietnam Young Doctors Association in responding to the Prime Minister's call for organ and tissue donation, which has deep humanitarian and humane significance.
According to Ms. Pham Thanh Binh, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Medical Trade Union, there are currently more than 500,000 medical professionals nationwide. If all of them are encouraged to register to donate organs and tissues, this would be a huge number.
According to the agreement, the Vietnam Medical Trade Union and the Vietnam Young Doctors Association will step up propaganda to raise awareness among managers and medical workers about the humanitarian significance of organ and tissue donation. At the same time, they will organize ceremonies to honor and express gratitude to donors and mobilize resources to encourage and care for living donors and families of organ and tissue donors after brain deaths.
