Thirteen years of the Thai red cross organ donation centre.

UNLABELLED: The Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre was founded more than 13 years ago. Its primary roles are to promote organ donation, recipient registration, organ allocation and coordination of procurement. METHOD: This was a retrospective analysis of data from the Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre from February 1, 1994, to October 31, 2007. RESULTS: There were 450,069 people registered as potential donors. Over the past 6 years, the average new registration was 35,000 people per year. There were 791 deceased organ donors, yielding 1786 organs and 1062 tissues for transplantation. They comprised 1414 kidneys, 242 livers, 125 thoracic organs, 4 liver-kidneys, 1 pancreas-kidneys, 652 corneas, 370 heart valves, 36 bones, 3 blood vessels, and 1 skin. In the early period, each donor provided about three organs/tissues for transplantation. Now, each organ donor can provide 3.6 organs/tissues for transplantation. DISCUSSION: At present, the Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre is also authorized by The Medical Council of Thailand to oversee transplant practices in the country. There is a tendency for an increase in organ and tissue donations, although the numbers of waiting list patients is out of proportion to those of actual donors. CONCLUSION: Over the 13-year period of the Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre, there were 791 deceased organ donors who provided 2809 organ/tissues for transplantation.

Organ donation program to honor the 60th anniversary of the King's accession to the throne.

BACKGROUND: The year 2006 was important for Thai because His Majesty the King celebrated the 60th anniversary of his accession to the throne. The Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre launched an organ donation program to honor His Majesty on this special occasion. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of data from the Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre from June 1, 2006, to May 31, 2007. RESULTS: There were 87 deceased donors and 346 organ transplantations during the campaign period. The Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre launched an organ donation program with the collaboration of transplant centers, the Ministry of Public Health, the National Health Security Office, and their allies by supporting the program, developing an organ donation system in 24 hospitals, providing healthcare professional development, and reimbursement for the organ donation recovery process. Twenty four referral hospitals nationwide were recruited to be donor hospitals. This program almost doubled the numbers of deceased donors. CONCLUSION: Organ donation almost doubled during this one-year campaign as a result of expansion of the number of donor hospitals nationwide.