KUALA LUMPUR: The country is in dire need of organ donors, said National Organ Donation Awareness Action Committee chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.
There is a particularly acute shortage of kidney donors – a worrying situation, as there is a rising number of patients with end-stage kidney failure.
“The latest statistics show that more than 22,000 patients with kidney failure are awaiting kidney transplant.
“Although kidney transplants have been done in the country for the last 40 years, the transplant rate in Malaysia is among the lowest not only in the world, but Asean countries as well,” he said in a statement here, today.
Lee said that the transplant rate decreases each year, which is indirectly forcing many desperate patients to opt for risky illegal transplants abroad.
He urged Malaysians to change their perception on kidney donation, saying that there are no health risks to donors – and it is a noble thing to do. – Bernama