Malaysia has the expertise for complex organ transplants but needs more donors and patient referrals to overcome a critical supply-demand mismatch
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has had the medical expertise to perform heart, lung and liver transplants since the late 1990s, but operations have not been carried out routinely due to mismatch between organ supply and patient demand.
Malaysian Society of Transplantation (MST) president Dr Mohamad Zaimi Abdul Wahab said the first procedures took place in the early 2000s, but extremely low deceased organ donation rates at the time caused many programmes to stagnate.
“We actually started heart, lung and liver transplants in the 1990s. Around 1997, we were already doing them. The expertise is there, but transplants for organs like the heart and lungs depend entirely on donors who have passed away,” he told theSun.
Mohamad Zaimi said heart, lung and liver transplants were significantly more complex than kidney transplants due to strict organ compatibility requirements and the urgency involved.
However, Malaysia’s deceased organ donation rate has shown a steady increase in recent years, creating renewed potential for these programmes to be revived.
“Previously, the problem was supply. There were simply no organs. But now, the supply has increased. What we need is to ensure there are patients on waiting lists who can receive these organs.”
He pointed out that waiting lists for heart, lung and liver transplants remain short not because demand is low, but because patients with end-stage failure of these organs often do not survive long without transplantation.
“This is different from kidney failure. Kidney patients can survive for years on dialysis while waiting. For heart, liver and lung failure, without a transplant, patients may pass away before an organ becomes available,” he said, describing the situation as a “chicken-and-egg” dilemma.
Mohamad Zaimi cited the case of a heart transplant recipient who underwent surgery at the National Heart Institute more than a decade ago and is now physically active.
“He has been living with a transplanted heart for 12 to 13 years, and this May, he is planning to climb Mount Kinabalu. That shows these programmes work,” he said.
He stressed that Malaysia has the capability to perform these transplants, but stronger awareness among both the public and medical professionals is needed to ensure eligible patients are referred and maintained on waiting lists.
