About 420,000 registered as organ donors

AS of Jan 31, 419,946 individuals have registered to donate their organs after death, says Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

The number, he said, represents 1.3% of Malaysians in the country.

He revealed the figures in a written reply to Datuk Kamarul Baharin Abbas (PKR-Telok Kemang), who asked about the low number of organ donors and what organs were needed most in the country.

The ministry, he said, is taking steps to increase the number of registered organ donors, including using social media and mass media to disseminate information and raise awareness of organ donation and targeting the younger generation in campaigns for long-term sustainability of organ donation.

“At present, those with end-stage kidney diseases top the list of those needing organ donation,” he said, adding that there are 21,697 patients on the list as of Jan 31.

He added that according to the Malaysian Dialysis Transplant Registry 2015, diabetes and hypertension were the main causes of end-stage kidney failure.

The Government, he said, has created the National Strategic Plan for Non-Communicable Diseases 2016 to 2025 to address preventable lifestyle diseases such as diabetes type-2 and hypertension.

The plan has outlined a few initiatives, including the Healthy Communities Building the Nation Initiative (Kospen), an effort that seeks to empower communities to lower the risk of non-communicable diseases.

“Some 40,000 volunteers have been trained for Kospen so far,” he added.