Within the framework of the "Golden Week of Tissue and Organ Donation" in Ho Chi Minh City, on the morning of Dec 23^rd, the Vietnamese Tissue and Body Donation Campaign Association in collaboration with the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital held the launching ceremony of the Human Tissue & Body Part Donation Branch in the Southern region.

 

Assoc. Prof Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien - former Minister of Health, Chairman of the Vietnamese Association for Tissue and Organ Donation - said that organ transplantation is a great medical achievement, which help saving the lives of many patients for whom organ transplant is the last resort. Vietnam has successfully performed transplants of most types of organs, with more than 1,000 cases, the highest in Southeast Asia. However, the source of organ tissue is still very limited, mainly from living donors, while in other countries, it is mostly from brain-dead people.

The establishment of the Tissue and Body Organ Donation Association Branch in the Southern region is an important step, contributing to increasing the sources of organ donation.
 

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien highly appreciates these contributions and believes in the strong development of the tissue and organ donation movement in the coming time.
 

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoang Bac - Director of Ho Chi Minh City University Hospital, Chairman of the Association for Tissue and Body Organ Donation in the Southern Region, in the past 20 years, liver transplantation and kidney transplantation have achieved many great achievements, organ transplant techniques in Vietnam recently have been on par with the world.
 

However, there are still limitations in developing the quantity of organs from brain-dead people. Data shows that the rate of organ transplants from brain-dead people in Vietnam is only 0.15 cases per 1 million people, much lower than Spain (49 cases) and Thailand (6.12 cases). Meanwhile, only 6% of all organ transplants in Vietnam come from brain-dead people, the rest are mainly from living people.
 

In 2024, the country has successfully performed 36 organ transplants, the highest number ever. This marks great progress and proves the ability to coordinate between hospitals.

In order to develop more strongly, the Director of Ho Chi Minh City Medical and Pharmaceutical Hospital said that the branch will build a communication network, focus on professional activities, consultation, and mobilization, for people to join hands to create a culture of "organ donation means eternal life", thus changing the perception of organ donation.
 

At this launching ceremony, the Vietnamese Tissue and Organ Donation Association, the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center, and hospital directors in the Southern region jointly launched the registration of tissue and human organ donation.