SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will soon allow organ donations from patients who die after life support is withdrawn and their hearts stop beating — not just those declared brain dead — in a major policy shift aimed at easing the nation’s severe shortage of transplant organs, the government announced Thursday. The change, [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – A 35-year-old Thai woman became a beacon of hope for five South Koreans, donating her vital organs after being declared brain dead during a vacation in Korea. The Korea Organ Donation Agency announced on July 10 that Purima Rungthongkumkul, while on holiday with a friend, suddenly lost consciousness on June [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of individuals awaiting domestic organ transplants, including solid organs, hematopoietic stem cells, and eyes, has consistently risen and surpassed the 50,000 milestone. However, organ donations from individuals with non-recoverable brain function have remained at around 400 per year over the past five years. Despite the noble impact of [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Starting next year, family members of organ donors and recipients will be able to communicate online. The Korea Organ Donation Agency announced that it will begin an online letter exchange program between family members of the organ donor and the recipient on Monday. In the past, South Korea banned [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a nationwide online survey with the participation of 1,000 people over 19 years of age, inquiring about their willingness to donate organs and tissue. The results indicated that 7 out of 10 participants were willing to be donors. While most [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – A debate on Tuesday hosted by the Korea Organization for Sharing Tissue discussed ways to establish a more active donation culture for tissue and organs in Korea, both of which have disappointing donation rates here compared to other developed nations. According to KOST, the registration rate for organ donation [...]
BUSAN, Sept. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – Organ donation in Korea is not yet a popular practice. The idea of “damaging” one’s body (even when dead) is a concept that’s still difficult to grasp in a society still deep-rooted in traditional Confucian beliefs. In fact, for every 1 million Koreans, only 49.5 donated organs, a much [...]
SEOUL, April 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Nine of out of 10 Koreans aged 65 years and over do not want to receive medical care to prolong their lives. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) published on April 9, only 3.9 percent of the respondents said that [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — A multitude of Korean religious bodies have started various campaigns to spread the culture of organ donation among Koreans. There was a dramatic increase, in 2009, of individuals submitting their wish to donate their organs to Catholic NGO One-Body One-Spirit Movement’s organ donation program, according to One-Body One-Spirit’s report [...]