Regarding the scope of organ donation, the ministry has maintained an absolute ban on removing organs from living donors under the age of 18.

For living tissue donations, the draft would permit only the donation of regenerative tissues included on a list issued by the Ministry of Health.

Adults aged 18 and above must be registered as donors. Those who have not registered would need to provide written consent and could donate regenerative tissues only to their biological parents, spouse, biological siblings or biological children.

People under 18, meanwhile, would be permitted to donate regenerative tissues only if all four conditions are met:

No suitable adult donor is available.

The minor has received independent counseling to ensure that the donation is free from coercion or deception.

The recipient is a biological brother or sister.

Consent has been obtained from both biological parents, or from the surviving parent if one has died.

Compared with the previous draft, the ministry has withdrawn its proposal to allow minors to donate regenerative tissues to their biological parents while still alive.

Permanent Deputy Minister of Health Vu Manh Ha said narrowing the range of eligible recipients for tissue donations from minors was among the measures intended to prevent and combat trafficking in human tissues and organs involving people under 18.

Narrower eligibility for living organ donation

The revised draft also tightens the rules governing who may receive organs from living donors.

People aged 18 and above would be allowed to donate organs directly to eligible family members, with the definition of family narrowed under the new proposal.

Such donations would not need to go through the national organ allocation system, but they would have to be reported to the agency responsible for national transplant coordination.

Who qualifies as a family member?

Under the draft, eligible family members include spouses; biological parents; parents-in-law; biological children; adopted children; stepchildren of a spouse; full siblings and half-siblings; paternal and maternal grandparents; and biological aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

The definition excludes adoptive parents, stepparents, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law related through siblings, as well as grandchildren.

People aged 25 and above would be permitted to donate organs either to eligible family members or anonymously to recipients outside their families.

For anonymous donations, recipients must be patients on the national transplant waiting list, and organ allocation must be conducted through the national coordination system.

The allocation process would have to comply with legally prescribed priority criteria and waiting-list requirements.

The Ministry of Health has also removed an earlier proposal allowing people to donate organs that are damaged or affected by disease and can no longer function in their own bodies.

Tighter consent rules for organ donation after death

For tissue and organ donations following brain death or circulatory death, the ministry has proposed narrowing the categories of relatives authorized to provide consent.

For deceased donors aged 18 and above, authorized representatives would be limited to the following groups, in order of priority:

Biological father, biological mother, spouse or biological children aged 18 and above.

Biological brothers or sisters aged 18 and above.

Paternal or maternal grandparents.

For deceased donors under 18, the list of authorized representatives would be narrower and follow this order:

Biological father or mother.

Biological brothers or sisters aged 18 and above.

Paternal or maternal grandparents.

Under the proposed conditions for donation following brain death or circulatory death, adults aged 18 and above who have registered as donors or provided written consent would also require written consent from an authorized representative.

If the deceased had neither registered as a donor nor provided written consent, written approval from an authorized representative would be required.

The donor must have been formally declared brain-dead or dead following circulatory arrest by the relevant medical council.

Donated organs could be allocated only to patients on the national transplant waiting list, with donor and recipient identities kept anonymous.

All allocations would have to be handled through the national coordination system and comply with the priority criteria established under the law.

The amended Law on Donation, Removal and Transplantation of Human Tissues and Organs and Donation and Recovery of Cadavers is scheduled for discussion at a National Assembly plenary session on the morning of November 2, with a vote on its passage expected on November 21.

Proposed restrictions on organ transplants for foreign nationals

The latest draft also introduces conditions governing organ transplants for foreign nationals in Vietnam.

Under the proposal, foreign nationals would be eligible to receive organ transplants in Vietnam if they are directly related by blood to the donor or are relatives within three generations.

The Ministry of Health has removed provisions that would have allowed foreign nationals to register on Vietnam's transplant waiting list.

The change is intended to prevent the rules from being exploited to facilitate illegal organ trading in Vietnam.

Vo Thu