May 20th every year is chosen as "Vietnam Organ and Tissue Donation Day". This is not only a milestone in the medical field, but also a day to awaken compassion, social responsibility and the awareness of sharing life in the community.
The special thing about organ donation is that life does not stop at loss. A person passes away, but their heart, liver, kidney, cornea or organs can continue to revive in other people's bodies. That is a very fragile but also very sacred boundary between pain and hope, between separation and the opportunity to live.
Organ and tissue donation day is also a day to show gratitude to organ donors and their families. They not only save one patient, but also save an entire family from despair; not only giving away a part of their body, but also restoring faith in goodness in society.
Vietnam has made very proud progress in the field of organ transplantation. From the first successful organ transplant more than 30 years ago, to now our country has mastered many complex organ transplantation techniques, performing many multi-organ transplants. In the past 2 years, hospitals have successfully performed more than 1,000 organ transplants each year. The number of hospitals licensed to perform organ transplantation techniques has also increased from 5 central hospitals before to 34 hospitals today.
However, behind those achievements is still a painful reality: The source of donated organs in Vietnam is still very scarce. According to information at the program, the source of donated organs currently mainly comes from living donors, accounting for about 90% of the total transplants, while the source of donation from brain-dead people is still limited. This means that there are still many patients who have to wait in despair, even die before they have the opportunity to have organ transplants.
The greatest meaning of Vietnam Organ Donation Day is to contribute to changing community awareness. In many families, spiritual, customary and psychological barriers still make donating organs and tissues after death a difficult decision. These barriers need to be seen with sympathy, but also need to be resolved with knowledge, proper communication and humane stories with impact.
In society, there are gestures that are not noisy but enough to brighten human dignity. Donating tissues and organs is such a gesture. Vietnam's organ donation day is therefore not only reminding us of death, but more importantly, reminding us of life, of compassion and of the ability of humans to continue doing good even when they have left this world.
Giving is forever" is not just a slogan. It is a philosophy of life, a humane message, a light that opens up from losses. When more and more people understand correctly, trust and are willing to register for tissue and organ donation, Vietnam will have more opportunities to save patients, and at the same time build a more compassionate, civilized and more respectful of life society.
