Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long said that about 6,000 people have volunteered to be organ donors in Macau, adding that apart from kidney transplants, Macau is also almost ready to perform liver transplants.
Based on Macau’s population of 673,600 at the end of the first quarter of this year, this means that just about 0.89 percent of them have signed up as organ donors.
Dr Lo made the remarks during a conference held by the China Organ Transplant Development Foundation (COTDF) to mark the China Organ Donation Day on Saturday at the Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University in Shanghai, according to a statement by the Health Bureau.
China Organ Donation Day is celebrated on June 11 every year to raise public awareness of and support for organ donations. This year’s China Organ Donation Day is the seventh since the first one on June 11 2017.
Dr Lo said he believes that the opening of the Macau Medical Centre of the public hospital complex in Cotai, officially known as Islands Healthcare Complex, by the end of this year will help further promote the development of organ transplants in Macau.
In his speech at the China Organ Donation Day event in Shanghai, Dr Lo pointed out that due to Macau’s small population it has only limited sources of human organs suitable for local transplantations, therefore, he added, regional cooperation was required for Macau residents with urgent needs to be able to receive organs for transplant from mainland China.
Dr Lo said he hoped that the cooperation between the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau in the field of organ donations and transplants could be further strengthened by seizing the opportunities in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA), and that greater breakthroughs could be made in the introduction of talents and technology exchange.
Dr Lo underlined that in December 2017 Macau signed a letter of intent with the COTDF to include Macau in the China Human Organ Allocation and Sharing Computer System.
Dr Lo emphasised that organ donation is a reflection of modern society’s civilisation and the level of organ transplantation represents the medical standard of a region or country.
To register for organ donation, members of the public can email odpg@ssm.gov.mo or call 8390 7252 or 6300 9121 for enquiries.
Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long addresses a conference held by the China Organ Transplant Development Foundation (COTDF) to mark the China Organ Donation Day on Saturday at the Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University in Shanghai.
