Any organ transplant is complicated and methodical, not only the surgery itself but what comes before and after. In Singapore, there are stringent rules in place before organ transplant is allowed to be done. The Transplant Ethics Committee, required by the Human Organ Transplant Act, comprises of a doctor from the operating hospital, a layperson and an external doctor with no relation to the operating hospital. Their role is to ascertain if transplantation is the viable treatment option and to ensure that no transaction exchanging a human organ for monetary gain is carried out, and the donor is not coerced into donating their organ. The evaluation reports, the interview between the committee with the patient and the doctor, sets the tone of the final say from the transplant ethics committee. Without the written authorisation of the transplant ethics committee, no transplant surgery is allowed.

At Asian Centre for Liver Diseases & Transplantation, once liver transplant is decided upon, our experienced transplant coordinators will assist the patient and his/ her family and guide them through the steps of the whole transplant procedure. Some of the procedures are duplicated for both donor and the recipient, as highlighted below :

TRANSPLANT JOURNEY	RECIPIENT	DONOR
Pre-transplant Evaluation Vaccinations (if applicable) Assessment : bloodtest, scans, etc	YES	YES
Transplant Surgery	YES	YES
Post-transplant inpatient	YES	YES
Complications	YES	YES
Medications/ Supplements	YES	YES
Post-transplant Vaccinations	YES	NO
Diet	YES	NO

Each step of the transplant journey is explained in detail in the next few pages. It is the responsibility of the patient and his/ her family to find a compatible healthy live donor. The donor can either be next of kin, relations or someone with whom the recipient has an emotional bond with, such as friends or spouses.