Young Malaysians the biggest group to pledge organs
BY K. SAITHURUKAKUALA LUMPUR: Young Malaysians aged 21 to 30 are the biggest group of donors for organ transplants, which have been done in local hospitals since the 70s.
Stating this, Health Ministry parliamentary secretary Lee Kah Choon said organ donation pledges had increased in the last seven years.
The number of pledges in 1997 was 2,056 but this had increased to 81,379 by October this year, he told reporters after launching an organ donation campaign organised by a group of graduates at Sunway Pyramid here yesterday.
The Chinese made up 66% of those who had pledged to donate their organs, followed by the Indians (22%), the Malays (9%) and other communities (3%). Penang and Selangor each contributed 18% of the donors while Perak had 11.4%, which is the lowest.
The organisers of the campaign, among others, submitted a petition to the ministry proposing that Malaysians be given an option to pledge their organs via their MyKad or driving licences.
Lee said there had been 7,730 transplants carried out in the country since such surgery started in Malaysia in the 70s.
He warned that it was illegal to sell organs, adding that he assumed all pledges were made by relatives of the patients and individual donors.
“We have high ethical rules and assess and counsel the donor and recipient before we allow a transplant to go ahead if they are not related,” Lee said, adding that this prevented organ-selling.
He said it would be difficult for people to sell their organs as most transplants were done with the ministry's knowledge and were complicated.
Lee said the number of organ extractions in the country was small because a person had to be “at the right place and at the right time”.
“Even then, family consent is important and we respect their wishes although the deceased had pledged his or her organs,'' he said.
Lee said a single donor's organs could save six lives, and he called on NGOs to actively support organ donation.
Lee said that while donors faced ethical, religious and legal obstacles, they should realise that their pledges could prolong the lives of others.
According to organdonation.com.my, 400 Malaysians require a liver while 450 need a heart and 1,200 need a kidney yearly.
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