Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau attended the 2024 Hepatobiliary Surgery Academic Conference & Forum on Organ Transplant & Bionic Medicine of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association in Beijing today.

He was there to exchange views with experts on the latest developments in organ transplantation in the country and overseas, as well as explore the strengthening of co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong in areas related to organ donation and transplantation.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the forum this morning, Prof Lo introduced the recent developments in organ donation and transplantation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

He said the Hong Kong SAR Government has been stepping up promotion on the spirit of altruism and selfless love demonstrated in organ donation.

Since 2016, the second Saturday of every November has been designated as Organ Donation Day to nurture and promote a culture that embraces organ donation, and encourage members of the public to support it through action.

As of September, the number of registrations in Hong Kong’s Centralised Organ Donation Register has reached an all-time high of over 380,000.

Prof Lo mentioned that the unprecedented cross-boundary organ donation case by the Hong Kong SAR and the Mainland in December 2022 was accomplished with resounding success for Tsz-hei, a then 4-month-old baby girl who had undergone a successful heart transplant.

Riding on this successful experience, he said the Health Bureau and the Hospital Authority are strenuously working with relevant Mainland authorities to regularise the mechanism for handling emergency organ transplant requests.

He added that the country's organ donation and transplantation work has achieved rapid development progress, being ranked second worldwide in the number of organ donations and transplantations, and is among the top level in terms of organ transplantation technology internationally.

Under the Belt & Road Life & Health Technology In-depth Cooperation Project Agreement, the Institute of Organ Transplantation & Bionic Medicine of Tsinghua University and the Hong Kong Scientist Association (HKSA) joined forces as strategic partners.

Among their collaboration projects is the establishment of a Belt & Road international innovation and technology centre in Hong Kong, including the setting-up of the International Organ Transplantation Innovation Center.

Prof Lo said he anticipates that the institute and the HKSA will actively look into the key core issues of organ donation and transplantation in accordance with the principles of complementarity and mutual benefits, thereby contributing to the national effort in organ donation and transplantation.