Nearly 600 people have registered to donate their organs for scientific research at a recent event held at Giac Ngo Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City’s district 10.

Nearly 600 people registered to donate their organs for scientific research at an event held at the Gia Ngo Pagoda. (Photo: VNA)

The event was organised by the Vietnam National Coordinating Centre for Human Organ Transplantation under the Ministry of Health and the Buddhism Today Foundation (BTF).

Speaking at the ceremony, Venerable Thich Nhat Tu, head of the Giac Ngo Pagoda who is also chairman of the BTF, said that people could transfer their lives to between six and 13 other people after they died.

In Buddhism, organ donation is a meaningful action, contributing to saving sick people, he said.

Prof. Dr. Trinh Hong Son, Director of the Vietnam National Coordinating Centre for Human Organ Transplantation, said it is important to raise people’s awareness of the meaning of donating organs for scientific research and saving lives.

Nguyen Thi Hong Gam, 25, from the city’s district 6, was one of the people who registered. “Organ donation is my inner wish because it brings lives for people in need. My family supports my wishes,” she said.

Nguyen Thanh Nga, 38, also registered at the event. She said that her father died 25 years ago due to gall stones, so she was highly aware of the importance of organ donation.

“I believe that when I die, my body will be meaningless. But if I help people needing organ transplants, I will contribute to society,” said Nga.

The BTF, in coordination with the Vietnam National Coordinating Centre for Human Organ Transplantation, has organised the event four times. More than 250 people registered in 2015. The number rose to 583 in 2016 and 527 last year./.

VNF/VNA