HÀ NỘI — The number of people registering to donate organs after death or brain death across the country has reached over 20,000 so far.

The number was said to suddenly soar compared to the previous years.

The information was released at a programme titled “ Joining hands for life”, organised in the northern province of Ninh Bình by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Human Organ Transplantation and the provincial Red Cross Association on Thursday.

Data from the centre showed that only 265 volunteers registered for organ donation in 2014 and the number increased to 2,000 in 2015 in the country.

President of the Việt Nam Association of Organ Transplantation Phạm Gia Khánh said organ transplantation was believed to be the last hope to save people with terminal illness.

Some 673 people received organ transplants last year, the highest number so far, he said.

However, the number was still small compared to the very long list of people waiting for organ transplants, with the number reaching dozens of thousands of people nation-wide, he said.

Therefore, the event aimed to call everyone in the country to join hands in making life better by donating their organs to save ill people.— VNS