Ha Noi approves organ transplant project
VGP - Ha Noi will spend VND 34.1 billion (US $1.6 million) on new technology to carry out organ transplants.
Before 2015, the city aims to start conducting kidney transplants, while that for heart and marrow will likely begin in the following year. An organ bank will also be set up after 2015.
Funds for the project come from the municipal budget as well as other sources, including international cooperative projects and enterprises. The amount of over VND 34 billion is part of a plan approved by the municipal People’s Committee.
The city will use the existing facilities at Saint Paul Hospital to carry out kidney transplants.
The city’s health sector will also improve its ability to procure organs from brain-dead individuals and preserve them for future use in transplanting surgeries, as well as enhancing people’s awareness of the benefits of organ donation.
Director of the municipal Health Department Nguyen Khac Hien said that the biggest obstacle when implementing the project was the shortage of organs.
In the past 20 years, he said about 8,000 Vietnamese people required kidney transplants, but only 700 were able to undergo the operation.
By VGP/VNA
