HCMC lawmakers table tissue, organ donation

April 1, 2006

The National Assembly deputies in Ho Chi Minh City met representatives of hospitals and specialists Friday to collect ideas for the draft law on tissue and organ donation and transplantation.

Most delegates shared the same view of readjusting the age of donors to 18 or older from 16 as regulated by the draft.

They said donations should only be accepted for people who are 18 years old or more and have registration to voluntarily donate their tissue and organs.

Tran Van Thao, deputy director of Pediatric Hospital No. 2, said, "The draft does not need to regulate the age of donators if they are clinically dead."

"For instance, the liver or kidney transplants for children will have better results if the donated organs come from young persons," Thao said.

"However, the law should have specific and detailed regulations for such cases, like guidelines on the definition of 'clinical death'," he added.

Do Hoang Giao, deputy director of Gia Dinh People's Hospital, said: "The participation of a central medical assessor in classifying clinical death cases as regulated in the draft law is unnecessary. Such a case only requires affirmation of specialists and the head of the victim's hospital", he said.

Pham Van Bui of the People's Hospital 115, agreed, adding this would help shorten waiting times, increasing the success of heart, liver, lung, and pancreas transplants which must be performed with 24 hours after removal from donors.

Most delegates said no to the draft law proposal of allowing individuals to establish tissue banks.

They emphasized only state agencies are eligible to set up a tissue bank to prevent illegal deals of purchasing and selling organs and tissues.

However, Nguyen Truong Son, deputy director of Cho Ray Hospital, said there may be room for the state to allow individuals tissue banks, if they were non-profit.

Currently some 6,000 Vietnamese people suffering from kidney failure are waiting for kidney transplants.

In Hanoi some 1,500 patients await liver transplants.

Reported by Thanh Tung -- Translated by Thu Thuy

Copyright © 2006 Thanhnien News.

This article posted April 16, 2006.