Popular perception of organ donation is changing.
According to statistics announced by the Vietnam National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Trasplantation (VNHOT), the number of people registered for organ donation this year reached 19,300, an increase from 12,000 people in 2017, Dan Tri reports.
VNHOT was established in 2013 with only five staff members. In that year, only 200 people registered for organ donation. Trinh Hong Son, VNHOT's director, told the news source that in the past, many individuals were scared about organ donation. However, this perception is gradually changing for the better, although encouraging the public to donate remains a challenge.
From 2014 through 2017, the total number of organ donors in the country reached 12,000.
Earlier this year, many were moved by the touching story of seven-year-old Hai An, who, before she passed away, decided to donate her corneas once she died due to a brain tumor, saving two patients from corneal scarring and congenital corneal cataracts. A month after Hai An's death, VOV reported that over 650 people visited VNHOT to register to donate their organs after they die.
As of August 31, 2018, Vietnam had conducted 3,378 organ transplants, including 3,223 kidney, 125 liver and 26 cardiac transplants.
[Photo via Bao Thua Thien-Hue]
