Over 4,500 M'sians Have Pledged To Donate Their Organs Under MySejahtera's New Feature
The Ministry of Health hopes that 1% of the population, or 320,000 Malaysians, will become registered organ donors.
By May Vin Ang — 14 Sep 2022, 05:21 PM
Over 4,500 Malaysians have pledged to donate their organs in a little over a week since the new 'Organ Donor Pledge' registration feature was introduced on MySejahtera
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), as of 3pm on Monday, 12 September, there were 4,500 new pledges made through the feature that was launched last Tuesday, 6 September.
"On average, there are over 700 new organ donors every day since the new feature was introduced," it tweeted in encouragement of the new initiative.
The ministry is hoping to achieve the target of 1% of the population, or 320,000 Malaysians, becoming registered organ donors at a rate of 1,000 new pledges daily.
The new feature has made it easy for Malaysians to pledge at any time at their convenience
To register, click on the 'Organ Donor Pledge' button on the MySejahtera dashboard.
The app will only ask a few questions, as well as contact information about your next-of-kin, before assuring donors that they may withdraw their registration at any time.
"At the point of death, if you are deemed suitable for organ or tissue donation, consent will still be obtained from your family members before organ donation can take place," it said.
In March, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia has one of the lowest organ donation rates in the world
According to New Straits Times, he said the National Transplant Resource Centre has only recorded 517,758 registered organ donors since 1997.
Furthermore, the number of actual donors was low. As of July this year, only 779 of the registered names became actual donors.
Meanwhile, Khairy said that, to date, there are currently 10,442 patients waiting for organ transplants.
