Hong Kong-linked hospital joins national organ transplantation platform

The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZ Hospital) in South China's Guangdong Province has officially been linked with the country's major organ donation volunteer online registration platform, which is administered by the China Organ Transplant Development Foundation.

Huang Jiefu, former vice minister of health and current head of the foundation, told the Global Times on Monday that he hopes that Hong Kong residents will be able to have organ transplant operations in the HKU-SZ hospital in the future.

Volunteers including the hospital patients and residents from the mainland as well as those from the country's Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions are now able to register their organ donation willingness with the platform via the hospital's WeChat public account, Shenzhen's local media reported on Monday.

Zhao Hongtao, the secretary general of the foundation, said the hospital will play a bridging role between Hong Kong residents and mainland residents, as the hospital is well trusted by Hong Kong patients since it has a strong connection with the University of Hong Kong.

"The HKU-SZ Hospital is operated well with a management team from the University of Hong Kong. Therefore it is already popular among Hong Kong residents, who can enjoy a cluster of favorable policies at the hospital from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority," Zhao told the Global Times on Monday.

According to data Zhao provided to the Global Times on Monday, from 2010 to 2018, residents from Hong Kong, Macao and the island of Taiwan have had 1,155 organ transplant operations in the mainland, including 676 for Hong Kong residents. And as of the end of 2018, 536 residents from these regions were on the waiting list, including 313 from Hong Kong. In 2018, two Hong Kong residents made organ donations.

As of Monday, more than 1.13 million volunteers have registered with the foundation.