Launching the Program "Register to donate tissues and organs - Giving is forever"

Vietnam has mastered many advanced organ transplant techniques on par with the world, reviving many lives "like a candle in the wind"

Organ transplantation is one of the great achievements of the 20th century and has revived many lives that seemed doomed.

Most recently, on May 7, Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc Hospital, informed about the "spectacular" liver transplant that was successfully performed for the first time at this hospital and became a special mark in the journey of mastering advanced techniques of Viet Duc doctors.

This is the first time a case of acute liver failure, kidney failure, and being treated for resuscitation has successfully received a liver transplant from a brain-dead donor. It is also the first time that Vietnam's organ transplant system has performed an organ transplant on a patient who is in a coma, with only hours left to live...

According to Dr. Hung, the successful liver transplant from a brain-dead donor opens up the opportunity for a new life for many patients, while promoting the development of organ transplantation in the Vietnamese health sector in general and at Viet Duc Hospital in particular...

Looking back at the history of organ transplants in our country, it can be seen that since the first organ transplant (in 1992) up to now, medical facilities in Vietnam have successfully performed more than 8,000 organ transplants, of which the most are kidney, liver, heart, lung; kidney - pancreas transplants...

In two years (2022 and 2023), each year we will transplant more than 1,000 cases including kidney, liver, heart, lung transplants... and become the country with the highest number of organ transplants/year in Southeast Asia.

This is a bright spot in the medical industry, a testament to the level and development of Vietnam's organ transplant industry.

Must increase organ donation from brain dead donors

Over the years, Vietnam has made great progress in increasing the source of organ donations from brain-dead people.

Before 2023, only 5 hospitals performed brain death resuscitation diagnosis for organ donation, but now with the strong direction of the Ministry of Health, the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center has implemented brain death resuscitation diagnosis for organ donation at 9 hospitals, including brain death resuscitation diagnosis for organ donation at provincial hospitals.

However, the number of organ transplants of more than 1,000 cases per year has not met the needs of patients. Of these, more than 94% of transplanted organs come from living donors.

"We need to increase the source of organ donations after death, brain death, like developed countries where 50 to 90% of organ donations come from deceased, brain dead donors in developed countries. Some Asian countries such as Korea, Thailand and China have a very high rate of organ donations from deceased/brain dead people, from 40-80%. These are countries with cultures and beliefs similar to Vietnam" - an expert on organ donation advocacy shared this wish.

According to the report of the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center, currently only over 86,000 people have registered to donate organs after death, accounting for 0.086%. The rate of registration to donate organs after death in Vietnam is very low compared to other countries in the region and the world (the rate of registration to donate organs after death is up to 80-90% of the population).

The rate of brain-dead organ donors in Vietnam is 0.15 compared to Spain 49 - the country with the highest rate of brain-dead organ donors in the world - meaning 49 brain-dead organ donors/1 million people/year.

The Ministry of Health has also directed the construction of a nationwide network of 68 donation hospitals. The rate of brain-dead organ donors in 2023 increased by 15% compared to 2022. In the first 4 months of 2024, the number of brain-dead organ donors doubled compared to 2023.

With the desire to have more people register to donate organs, the Government directed the Ministry of Health, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Red Cross, and the Vietnam Association for Organ and Tissue Donation to organize the Launching Ceremony of the movement "Registering to donate organs and tissues - Giving is forever".