No. of brain-dead organ donors totals 409 in 2012

The number of brain-dead patients in South Korea, who died after donating their organs, hit a record high of 409 last year, up 11 percent from 368 a year earlier.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) on Jan. 13, those brain-dead patients made 1,709 organ donations, more than six-fold jump from 268 in 2010. The comparable stood at 141 in 2006 and 36 in 2002.

Kidney topped the 2012 list of organ donations by brain-dead patients with 768 cases, followed by cornea with 396, liver with 363, heart with 107, lung with 37 and pancreas with 34.

However, South Korea still lags far behind other countries in terms of organ donations by brain-dead patients, the KCDC said.

It noted that only eight in every 1 million people donate their organs in South Korea, which compares with 34 for Spain and 21 for the United States.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com