Nearly 600 people registered to donate their organs for scientific research at an event held at the Giác Ngộ Pagoda in HCM City’s District 10 on Saturday.— Photo baotintuc.vn

HCM CITY — Nearly 600 people registered to donate their organs for scientific research at an event held at the Giác Ngộ Pagoda in HCM City’s District 10 on Saturday.

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

Speaking at the ceremony, Venerable Thích Nhật Từ, head of the Giác Ngộ Pagoda and 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.

Professor Trịnh Hồng Sơn, director of the Việt Nam National Coordinating Centre for Human Organ Transplantation, said that was important to raise people’s awareness of the meaning of donating organs for scientific research and saving lives.

Nguyễn Thị Hồng Gấm, 25, from 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.

Nguyễn 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 co-ordination with the Việt Nam 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. — VNS