made the headlines. Her Secondary 2 son had collapsed during a run in school and died after three weeks in a coma.
“Right now, less than 10 per cent of kidney failure patients actually get the opportunity to receive a transplant, and that’s the best treatment for kidney failure,” said Professor A. Vathsala, co-director of the National University Centre for Organ Transplantation at the National University Hospital .
But the donations from dead and living donors will not be enough, particularly given that Singapore is rapidly ageing and has a small population of six million, with low death rates from substance abuse or road traffic accidents. “The bigger challenge is that there is also a very short period to talk to the next of kin about the possibility of donating the organs after the heart has stopped and to get them to understand the process and proceed with donation,” said Prof Vathsala.
However, there is a cultural bias surrounding death that leads to a reluctance to discuss or consider organ donation after death, said Prof Vathsala. If the intent to donate is not conveyed, grieving families may be at a loss as to what to do. Prof Iyer said the machine perfusion method will soon be extended to donated livers, to increase supply. This will benefit liver failure patients who cannot afford to wait as long as kidney failure patients, who can undergo dialysis while waiting.
Apart from engaging the public on organ donation, medical professionals working in ICUs can help to identify the right patients for donations, he said.
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