Hanoi (VNA) - The lack of knowledge about organ donation is one ofthe main reasons leading to the shortage of organ donation sources, accordingto medical experts.

Public awareness oforgan donation remained limited, even amongst medical workers, said DeputyDirector of the National Co-ordination Centre for Organ Transplant Dong Van He.

A survey on medicalworkers’ knowledge about brain-dead patients carried out in 2015 at somehospitals in the northern mountainous localities found that more than 70 percent of medical workers said brain-dead patients could recover.

Particularly, 44 percent of students of the Hanoi Medical University also said that brain-deadpatients could be saved.

This misunderstanding ofbrain-dead patients would have a great impact on encouraging and raising publicawareness of organ donation from brain-dead patients, He told Suc khoeva Doi song (Health and Life) Newspaper.

“Brain-dead patientscannot be saved,” he said.

The Ministry of Healthrecently held a media campaign to raise awareness amongst both people andmedical workers about organ donation, stating that donations from brain-deadpatients are a valuable source.

Doctor Ly Van Lien fromBao Yen Hospital in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai said hehimself was not well aware of organ donation and brain-death.

“After attending thecampaign ceremony, I was updated with a lot of knowledge. I will register todonate organs after death. In the worst case, a part of my body could help saveothers. This is the most meaningful thing that I can feel,” he told thenewspaper.

“I am from Dao ethnicgroup and people in my locality are very afraid of donating organs. Now Iunderstand and will explain and encourage people in my locality to register todonate their organs after death,” he said.

Organ donation from abrain-dead patient could save the lives of many people who need organtransplants and in many cases, organ transplant was the only cure, according toHe.

Paradoxically, thenumber of brain-dead patients due to traffic accidents amounted to tens ofthousands each year but the number of donors was limited, he said.

The Hanoi-based Viet Duc(Vietnam-Germany) Hospital, one of the 17 facilities qualified to performtransplants, reported around 1,000 brain dead patients every year. However,only 26 donated their organs between 2011 and 2015.

If one person agrees todonate his or her organs, four or five lives can be saved. However, fewfamilies of brain-dead individuals agree to make the donation, often forspiritual reasons.

Organ donation is anurgent need to meet increasing demand in the current context. Over 16,000patients suffer from heart, kidney, liver and lung diseases and more than 6,000blind people await eye donations, according to the health ministry.

Doctors here haveconducted 1,281 kidney transplants, 54 liver transplants, 16 heart transplantsand eight bone marrow transplants since 1992, according to the latestfigures.-VNA