By Karen Bong
KUCHING, July 26: Sarawak should have its own dedicated centre to manage organ preservation and transplantation activities due to severe logistical challenges that currently limit its role in saving and transforming lives.
Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) Head of Organ Procurement Coordinator (UPOH) Dr Uma Ramadass highlighted how the lack of transplant facilities and supporting infrastructure in Sarawak means that vital organs such as hearts and lungs cannot be utilised from local donors due to the short window of viability.
“In Malaysia, we have a single recipient list based on urgency, those most in need, often at the brink of death, are prioritised. But all transplant procedures happen only in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, at the National Heart Institute (IJN) and Selayang Hospital.
“Even if a donor is from Sarawak, the organ goes to whoever is first on the national list, provided they are fit to receive it,” she shared when speaking during the ShallWeeTalk live session with Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng today.
However, organ preservation times are critically short with kidneys can last up to 24 hours, livers between 8–12 hours, while hearts and lungs only survive for 4–6 hours outside the body.
For Sarawak, Sabah, and Labuan, Dr Uma pointed out that these limitations make it impossible to contribute heart and lung donations at present.
“Even if you have a private jet, there simply isn’t enough time. But perhaps one day, if Sarawak has its own transplant centre, procedures can be done swiftly and simultaneously.
“Right now, if a patient from a rural area in Sarawak needs a transplant, by the time they reach an airport and fly to Kuala Lumpur, the organ could already be unusable,” she explained.
Dr Uma also noted the complexity of matching donors and recipients through Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) testing, a process reliant on only two machines available in Malaysia, both located in Kuala Lumpur at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) and the National Blood Centre.
Currently, blood samples from potential donors in Sarawak must be flown to KL for compatibility testing, delaying the already time-sensitive process.
“Hopefully, we can have equipment like HLA testing machines and proper facilities, including a tissue and bone bank in the future. When people begin donating, we must be ready to preserve and process with urgency,” she stressed.
She also emphasised the critical shortage of transplant surgeons nationwide, with only a handful serving the entire country and none based in Sarawak.
However, Dr Uma highlighted that the national waiting time for a kidney donor has dropped from 12 years to about 8 to 10 years.
“Just last week, a Sarawakian received a kidney,” she said.
She expressed hope that Sarawak’s growing focus on healthcare development will soon extend to organ transplant infrastructure to ensure that more lives can be saved without being limited by distance and time. — DayakDaily
