Health Ministry restructures National Transplant Centre into a national command body to boost transplant rates and address systemic gaps.
KUALA LUMPUR: Organ transplantation will be reframed as a national agenda in 2026, with the Health Ministry restructuring the National Transplant Centre (NTC) into a central command body.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said this move is to drive policy, governance and nationwide coordination.
He stated that Malaysia’s transplant activity remains far below national needs despite strong clinical expertise and public-sector infrastructure.
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This gap is driven by a growing burden of end-stage organ failure from non-communicable diseases and systemic issues in prevention and early care.
“Over the past two years, we have been quietly rebuilding the engine of our National Transplant Services,” he said in a Twitter posting.
He explained that a critical foundation is the structural empowerment of the NTC, which previously operated under Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
The ministry is elevating the National Transplant Resource Centre, now renamed the NTC, directly under the Medical Development Division at MOH headquarters.
This shifts it from a ‘hospital unit’ to a ‘national command centre’, giving it the mandate to drive policy nationwide.
Dr Dzulkefly said the ministry remains realistic about challenges like the long training period for transplant specialists.
Immediate steps are being taken to optimise existing resources through strategic public-private and university hospital collaborations.
Among the key initiatives is groundwork for establishing a National Transplant Council as the central authority for data and resource management.
The ministry is unlocking public-private partnerships by engaging experts to form a unified national procurement team.
On policy reforms, the revision of the National Organ, Tissue and Cell Transplantation Policy 2007 is in its final stages to align with global standards.
A review of the Human Tissue Act 1974 is also under way to better protect living donors and streamline processes.
Dr Dzulkefly stressed that structural reform alone is insufficient without a parallel shift in public mindset towards organ donation.
“Over 400,000 Malaysians have registered as organ donors, yet more than 10,000 patients remain on transplant waiting lists,” he said.
He added that there is more to be done to bridge this gap.
To improve accessibility, the donor pledge process has been made more accessible through the MySejahtera application.
The app recorded more than 16,000 new sign-ups as of July 2025. – Bernama
