4,500 Pledged as Organ Donors Through MySejahtera Feature That Launched Only 8 Days Ago

By Karissa Lund  •  14 Sep 2022 in News

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Earlier this month, the MySejahtera application introduced a new feature that allows the public to register as organ donors starting on 6 September. Today (14 Sept), as many as 4,500 individuals have pledged through the app according to health minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

“4,500 organ donor pledges since we launched the feature in @my_sejahtera. Please spread the word. Become an organ donor pledger today. Save lives,” he said on Twitter. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health posted on Facebook stating that this new initiative has made it accessible for Malaysians to register and on average, there are about 700 new organ donor pledges per day.

Just last week at the closing ceremony of the Organ Donation Awareness Week, Khairy said that 10,442 people are now waiting for organ transplants in Malaysia and urged the public to register as organ donors on MySejahtera.

“I would also like to express my gratitude to the deceased organ donors and their families for their sacrifice in giving those in need a new lease on life… The pledge to donate your organs will be on the health ministry’s records and we will be able to show the next of kin of your decision in the event that something unfortunate happens,” he said.

He also urged the public to get a health screening to ensure they are healthy and eligible to donate their organs.

According to the National Transplant Resource Centre, there have been 517,758 registered organ donors since 1997. However, as of July this year, only 779 were actual donors.

Malaysia is ranked 10th in the world for a low transplantation rate, with only 2.84 transplantations per 1000 of the population in 2021. In 2020, the rate was 5.64 transplantations per 1000 of the population.