The Health Ministry is looking to enhance the MySejahtera with an in-app function that allows the public to register themselves as organ donors.
According to Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, the rate of organ donation in Malaysia is one of the lowest in the world and the ministry is trying its best to make it easier for people to register as donors.
“As such, we are suggesting to include an in-app function on MySejahtera where users can pledge to donate their organs,” he said when launching the 16th Annual Dialysis Conference 2022 here, reported The Star.
Khairy said that kidney disease is fast becoming a major burden globally, including in Malaysia.
“Kidney disease is a common but silent and often under-recognised condition. The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in our country has increased from 9.1% in the 2011 National Health and Morbidity survey to 15.5% in 2018.”
“If left untreated, it can lead to End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD). This is directly related to the high prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and obesity in our population,” he said.
Khairy added that the incidence and prevalence of treated ESKD have also risen markedly over the last 25 years.
According to the Malaysian Dialysis and Transplant Registry, 7,967 new patients required dialysis in 2015 and by the end of 2016, there were 39,711 patients on dialysis.
If the present trend continues unchecked, the number of ESKD patients is estimated to reach 106,000 in 2040, Khairy said.
He said that other than dialysis and prevention, another option for ESKD is a kidney transplant.
“However, the rate of organ donation and transplantation in Malaysia is one of the lowest in the world and thus people on dialysis will unfortunately never get a transplant.” he said.
