LIGHT MOMENT: Dr Zulkifli (centre) and other guests having a light moment with an exhibitor at the 15th Scientific Meeting of the Malaysian Society of Transplantation 2012.
KUCHING: More than 15,000 patients are waiting for organ donations in Malaysia, the majority kidney patients and this is expected to continue to increase in the foreseeable future.
“Unfortunately the number of patients on dialysis has gone up more than three times in the past 10 years as reported by the Malaysian Dialysis and Transplantation Registry (in 2001: 7,800 dialysis patients, 2010: 23,000 dialysis patients)” said director-general of health Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman yesterday.
He said among the most important challenges of organ donation faced by the Health Ministry was the huge disparity between demand and supply of organs and tissues in the country.
“From 1975 up to April 30, 2012, there have been 370 deceased donors contributing 1,187 organs and tissues, which have benefited many Malaysians. “The total number of donation is much lower compared to the demand,” he said at the opening of the 15th Scientific Meeting of the Malaysian Society of Transplantation 2012 held at a leading hotel here.
His speech was delivered by the State Director of Health Department, Dr Zulkifli Jantan.
Even though the donation rate in Malaysia of around 0.6 donations per million population was considered low, he added, it was important to acknowledge the fact that the donation had shown significant improvement in the past few years.
“The number of deceased donors for example recorded the highest last year (2011) since 1975 with 47 donors,” he said.
He said in 2011, the number of new organ donor pledges was the highest with 29,500 Malaysians registered with the National Transplant Resource Centre (NTRC).
He congratulated the National Transplant Resource Centre (NTRC), the Public Awareness Action Committee led by Tan Sri Datuk Lee Lam Thye and the Malaysian Society of Transplantation for the continuing effort in educating the public about the importance of organ donation.
He said according to the World Health Organisation, Malaysia was among 98 countries in the world providing transplant services to its people and “we are proud to say now we have the expertise in kidney, liver, heart and lungs transplant including haematopoietic stem cell transplant through donation of cord blood, peripheral blood or bone marrow”.
The demand for haematopoietic stem cell transplant for saving the lives of many patients with haematological disorders, especially malignancies, had called for establishment of the Malaysian Stem Cell Registry (MSCR) and public cord blood banks to increase probability of obtaining suitably matched
stem cell sources either from cord blood units or unrelated living donors.
The setting up of tissue banks especially in the university sector has become another important stimulus to the advancement of the service, he said.
He called on his staff to be more active and consolidate transplant efforts to help the Ministry educate and promote voluntary deceased donation among the public.
This, he added, should start in hospitals where health professionals would be equipped with basic information including the importance and rationale of promoting organ donation, principle of brain death, criteria of potential donors and mechanism of referral of potential cases.
He stressed that it was the responsibility of his staff to become the main driving force in their own hospital to stimulate and encourage professional education activities.
On unethical and immoral practices, Dr Hasan said the Ministry of Health was discouraging people from going overseas for commercial transplant through review and implementation policies including that of pertaining to the supply of immunosuppressant as announced by the Minister of Health in October 2011.
“As part of our commitment to the implementation of WHO Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation, the Ministry of Health has also recently published a guideline on unrelated living organ donation,” he stated.
The guideline has mandated the Ministry’s Unrelated Transplant Approval Committee (UTAC) to make independent evaluation before approving any case involving organ donation from someone not related to the potential recipient, he added.
Similarly, the ministry would also continue to take the lead and support the development of public education activities such as having smart partnership with relevant parties including other government agencies, non-governmental organisations, university and private sector shall be encouraged to achieve the desired outcome, he said.
The Ministry, he added, was also studying the proposal to incorporate organ donation as part of training of housemen and nurses as a long-term measure to improve the attitude of health professionals the especially among the ‘new generation’.
Dr Hasan also explained that the ministry was also in the process of streamlining some important standard operating procedures in the procurement of organ and tissue from deceased donors including the management of donors with medico legal cases also looking into streamlining procedures of coordination of matched unrelated donor for haematopoietic stem cell transplant.
Among those present at the event were director of Medical Development Division at Ministry of Health, Datuk Dr Azmi Shapie; president of Malaysian Society Transplantation, Datuk Dr Harjit Singh; chairman of organising committee of the scientific meeting, Dr Abdul Rais Sanusi and state director of the Information Department, Resat Salleh.