KUALA LUMPUR: Only 0.64 per cent or 181,534 Malaysians out of a population of 28 million have registered as organ donors since 1997, Organ Donation Action Committee chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said yesterday.
He said that this year, only 342 donors underwent successful transplant surgery, among them 33 cadaveric donors.
“According to the National Transplant Resource Centre, Kuala Lumpur Hospital, there are 14,037 patients on the wait list,” he told a press conference in conjunction with the 2011 National Organ Donation Awareness Week beginning Oct 16, here.
Lee said 14,013 patients on the waiting list need kidneys while the rest need lungs, liver and heart.
The Chinese led the registered donors with 55.29 per cent, Indians at 24.25 per cent and Malays, 17.64 per cent, he said.
However, Lee said, the number of Malay donors has increased from 4,275 in 2010 to 6,412 for the period of January to September this year.
On the Organ Donation Awareness Week, he said the Health Ministry was targeting the young generation between 15 and 25 years of age to register as donors.
“Early education on the importance of organ donation is vital and donors should also inform their families once they register,” he added.
The campaign for the week carries the theme ‘1Malaysia 1Hope: Donate for Life’ and will feature walkathons, seminars, an Islamic forum entitled ‘Organ Donation’ and a Friday sermon on the subject at the National Mosque. — Bernama