THERE are currently 10,170 Malaysians on the waiting list for much-needed organ transplants, says Suhaizan Kayat.
The Health Parliamentary Special Select Committee chairman said only 3,657 successful organ transplants have been performed since 1975, highlighting the imbalance between the country’s demand for organs and the available supply.
“This large gap between patient needs and organ availability underscores the need to strengthen our organ donation and transplant system,” he said when tabling the committee’s report.
Suhaizan said the situation is expected to worsen as the number of Malaysians dependent on dialysis, currently about 55,000, is projected to rise to 104,000 by 2040.
“In total, we spend nearly RM2bil annually on dialysis treatment and, if left unaddressed, this will not only affect the families involved but also increase pressure on our national healthcare system,” he said.
Suhaizan noted that the shortage of organ donors was not solely due to a lack of medical expertise; rather, it stems from issues of governance, coordination, capacity building, financing and public awareness of the importance of organ donation.
“This is reflected in the fact that more than 1,100 potential organ donations could not be realised because families did not give their consent.
“This alone indicates the need to enhance public understanding of organ donation and build greater confidence in the national donation and transplant system,” he said.
Suhaizan suggested that the National Transplant Resource Centre (NTRC) be designated as the lead agency for coordi- nating policies, clinical standards, training and data management.
He said this would enable the NTRC to better monitor the country’s organ allocation system while ensuring greater transparency.
“The Health Ministry should also review the current organ recipient prioritisation mechanism to ensure waiting lists are managed objectively, fairly and transparently based on clinical data to achieve better long-term treatment outcomes,” he added.
Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman (PN-Sik) argued that the bottleneck stemmed from the lack of a comprehensive national strategy for organ transplantation.
He said Malaysia should look to Spain’s National Transplant Organisation (ONT) as a model, as the country has recorded the world’s highest deceased organ donor rate over the past three decades.
