The rate of brain-dead people donating organs and tissues in Vietnam is low.
At the seminar "Sharing experiences in collecting and coordinating corneas between Vietnam and Singapore" organized by Hanoi Eye Hospital 2 on October 15, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, former Minister of Health, President of the Vietnam Association for Organ and Tissue Donation, said that Vietnam's organ transplant level has reached the regional and world level, but the rate of people registering to donate organs after brain death is low, while the waiting list for organ transplants at hospitals is increasing.
Currently, the demand for corneal transplants is very high but the source of donor corneas is scarce. They need to undergo corneal transplant surgery to regain their sight. The number of transplants is very small. Long lines of patients have to wait 5-6 years without a source of donated corneas. There are still hundreds of thousands of patients who have to accept living blind, waiting for the only source of corneas from donors after death.
During the period 2007-2023, the whole country had 45,000 cornea donation registrations, of which 963 people donated corneas after death from 20 provinces and cities across the country.
Regaining Light from Donated Corneas
Corneal transplantation is currently the only and most effective method to help patients with corneal damage have a chance to restore vision, especially in cases where medical treatment is no longer effective. However, the number of donated corneas is still limited.
According to Dr. Howard Cajucom-Uy - Head of the Singapore Eye Bank and Vice President of the Asian Eye Bank Association: The need for corneal transplants is huge but is facing many barriers such as customs, traditions and religions, cultural beliefs, lack of understanding/indifference about cornea donation, the donor's family is going through a very difficult emotional period, incorrect perceptions of laws related to organ donation...
While cornea donation does not require space, corneal harvesting can take place anywhere, does not affect aesthetic factors, cornea harvesting does not take away the entire eyeball of the donor but only takes a thin layer of the cornea in front...
Dr. Nguyen Hoang Phuc - Deputy Director of the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center said that these limitations have reduced the number of donated corneas not only in Vietnam but also in many countries around the world. Therefore, propaganda activities need to be further promoted. There needs to be a legal framework that is consistent with reality, and criteria for organ and tissue donation activities need to be included in the evaluation criteria of the health sector.
