Only 12 liver donors a year

Some 300 Malaysians need liver transplants every year but only a dozen are available.
Many succumb to their illnesses due to a lack of cadaveric donors.
Besides, the majority of potential donors assessed for living donor transplants were deemed unsuitable.
Director-general of health Datuk Dr Ismail Merican said a liver with more than 30 per cent fat was unsuitable for transplant.
"On the average, we get fewer than a dozen per year for transplantation," said Dr Ismail, who is also senior consultant physician and consultant hepatologist at Selayang Hospital.
In Malaysia, it is estimated that there are at least about 2,000 new cases of end-stage liver disease every year, of which at least 10 per cent would benefit from a liver transplant.
This does not include paediatric cases with various metabolic and development disorders.
Dr Ismail said liver transplants were the primary therapy for patients with end-stage liver disease.
Its high success rate has led to more seeking transplants and consequently, a shortage of donors.
Dr Ismail said living donor transplants was an option.
To date, 12 liver transplants have been done at Selayang Hospital — four with cadaveric donor organs and the rest from living donors.
Two of the four cadaveric liver recipients had died, one as a result of receiving the liver transplant too late and the other from severe organ rejection.
"All living related liver recipients are well, except one who died from a recurrence of liver disease," he told the New Straits Times.
Of 25 potential live liver donors who were assessed, Dr Ismail said, only 30 per cent were suitable.
Two-thirds were rejected because of fatty livers and other reasons, including illnesses like ischaemic heart disease (IHD), renal failure and hepatitis B.
The first liver transplant in Malaysia was performed in 1995 at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre, with the first liver transplant in Selayang Hospital on April 10, 2002.
"We have the expertise and we have the patients but to date, the procurement of cadaveric organs has been unsatisfactory despite nationwide campaigns and increased awareness."
He said the Health Ministry, together with the Malaysian Society of Transplantation, had undertaken various organ donation awareness programmes, which met with little success.
According to the Malaysian Liver Foundation, there was an extremely large pool of potential organ donors in accident victims, but these were lost due to apathy.
He said the ministry would step up efforts to improve the cadaveric organ donation situation.
He said if 10 per cent of those who died in road accidents were organ donors, the country would have at least 500 livers, 500 hearts, 1,000 kidneys and 1,000 corneas for transplantation.
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