Foundation encourages Tibet to learn about organ transplants

The China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation conducted organ transplantation publicity at the Tibet People's Hospital in Lhasa, capital of Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region on Tuesday morning.

Working together with the Chinese Association of Medical Imaging Technology, it was the first time they organized such an activity in the region. Prior to this, they had conducted such activities in more than 150 institutes all over China, involving more than 10,000 participants, and more than 400,000 volunteers have registered their willingness to support organ donation.

Officials from the National Health Commission, the regional health commission, and experts from the medical field were invited to participate in the event, and some spoke during the event on Tuesday.

"This is the first time we have held such an activity in Tibet to promote the work of organ transplantation, and we also have plans to perform medical aiding projects of hydatid disease (Echinococcosis) in the region," said Zhao Hongtao, chairman of the China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation.

"We hope more people of the region get to know more about what is organ transplantation and its importance, and we also hope the region's People's Hospital would play a key role in the work as it is the region's only medical institute to have the qualification to carry out organ transplantation," Zhao said.

"We have also made a donation of 1.5 million yuan ($231,000) at this time to the hospital to carry out rescue on patients with organ diseases, and also other disease treatment like hydatid disease," Zhao said.

Tibet is one of the high incidence areas of hydatid disease mainly due to people's diet in western China, which has nearly 300,000 hydatid patients, said Ye Qifa, dean of the Liver Disease Research Institute at Wuhan University.

Zhao also said it might be possible to encourage people to donate organs to others in need.

"As I know, Tibetan people have the tradition of donating their bodies to the vultures after their death. With such a generous behavior, I think some of them might be willing to donate part of their organs to patients in need, it is a different form of donation," he said.

Ye Qifa, dean of the Liver Disease Research Institute at Wuhan University, said more than 3 million people have registered their willingness to donate organs presently, between 30,000 and 50,000 people have participated in organ transplantation every year in China, and between 20,000 and 30,000 people become donors.

Ye, who also serves as director of the National Human Organ Acquisition Quality Control Center, said China has 2 million to 3 million patients with organ failure every year, and 20,000 to 30,000 patients are able to have organs transplanted.