Success in Organ Donation Program in Thailand

Abstract

Introduction The Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre has been involved effectively and consistently in several parts of organ donation process for more than 23 years. Although there are many stakeholders in organ donation process, we described success factors for increase total numbers of deceased donors. Material and methods A retrospective study of data from The Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Center from 1st January 2006 - 31st December 2016. We collected the data of deceased donors in Thailand over the last decade, and also various related activities and programs involving in organ donation. Results There was an increased in deceased donors from 1.03 to 3.33 per million population. The total number of donors was 1,433, number of donors increased 244 %, annual rate increased 14 % on average. The donors were 1,153 males (80.5%) and 280 females (19.5%). Over 9,398 organs and tissue had been transplanted including 2,477 kidneys; 601 livers; and 112 hearts. During the same period, there were 245 training activities. The majority of activities were visiting provincial hospitals (61.6%). The rest of them were transplant coordination training courses (14.7%), Transplant Procurement Management International training courses (1.2%), Walk Rally for nurse and medical students (15.9%), courses for retrieval team training with Soft Cadaver (0.8%) and other courses (5.7%). There were other activities to provide knowledge to the public in order to promote organ donation such as music video, songs, video clip in YouTube, organ donation roadshows, organ donation project celebrating the 84 th birthday anniversary of Her Majestry Queen Sirikit, the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King's accession to the throne and 60th birthday anniversary of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Moreover, the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) strategies and policy during 2013–2016 has played the important roles. MOPH has set the organ donation process as Key Performance Indicators for the government hospitals. Conclusion Although all factors have favored the increase in organ donation, a great impact was in the last 4 year since MOPH has launched strategies and policy. The Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre helped donor and transplant hospitals to set their own local network of organ donation, not only by materials support but also useful comprehensive guidance. However, continuing public awareness campaign for a better understanding is still necessary.