On January 9-10, 2026, Vietnamese and international medical experts convened to address the balance between advanced transplantation techniques and limited donor sources. The event served as both a scientific forum and a foundation for planning legal and ethical policies to refine the national organ coordination system in the new era.
Impressive milestones after three decades Since 1992, Vietnamese medicine has made extraordinary strides:
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Volume: Nearly 10,000 transplants have been performed; notably, between 2022 and 2024, the volume exceeded 1,000 cases annually, making Vietnam a leader in Southeast Asia in terms of scale.
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Techniques: Mastery of complex transplants involving six types of organs (kidney, liver, heart, lung, intestine, and pancreas). This includes highly difficult procedures such as liver transplants for infants under one year old, ABO-incompatible transplants, and simultaneous multi-organ transplants.
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Effectiveness: One-year survival rates are high (80-95% depending on the organ). Many patients maintain good health for 25-30 years post-surgery, with some even being able to conceive.
Challenges in donor sources and facility networks Despite high professional competence, Vietnam’s transplantation sector faces two major hurdles:
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Imbalance in donor sources: Over 80% of transplants still rely on living donors. Brain-death organ donation accounts for nearly 20%, significantly lower than in neighboring countries.
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Implementation network: Currently, only 31 facilities are qualified to perform transplants, mostly in major hospitals. This leads to overcrowding and long waiting lists, causing many patients to lose their chance of survival.
Expansion and private healthcare integration A new highlight is the involvement of the private healthcare sector, exemplified by the roadmap to launch transplantation services in 2026 by major private general hospital systems. Expanding the network of facilities that meet stringent requirements for personnel and equipment is expected to alleviate pressure on the public system, offering a second chance at life for many end-stage organ failure patients.
Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/thuc-day-he-thong-hien-ghep-tang-ben-vung-tai-viet-nam-102260110175419328.htm