Hanoi approves organ transplant project
Hanoi will spend VND34.1 billion (US$1.6 million) on new technology to carry out organ transplants.
The city plans to start conducting kidney transplants before 2015 and for heart and marrow in the following year. An organ bank will also be set up after 2015.
The project will get funding from the municipal budget as well as other sources, including international cooperative projects and enterprises.
The city will use the existing facilities at Saint Paul Hospital to conduct 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 has expressed concerns about lack of organs when implementing the project.
Over the past 20 years, he said about 8,000 Vietnamese people have required kidney transplants, but only 700 were able to undergo the operation.