PETALING JAYA, Nov 14 — Primary healthcare provider Merpati Health Services Berhad (MHSB) has joined forces with the National Transplant Resource Centre (NTRC) in a nationwide push to mobilise general practitioners (GPs) as frontline advocates for organ donation.
The collaboration was launched during the inaugural Merpati Grand GP Symposium 2026 at the Petaling Jaya Hilton today, convening more than 450 private practitioners to examine clinical and administrative challenges confronting community clinics.
Officiated by Deputy Director-General of Health for Medical Services Datuk Dr Mohd Azman Yaacob, the event also entered the Malaysia Book of Records for orchestrating the country’s largest organ donation advocacy drive mounted across private primary care facilities.
Health Ministry Digital Health Division director Dr Maheshwara Rao Appannan was also in attendance.
MHSB chief executive officer Dr Siva Kumar Kumarasamy outlined plans to scale the initiative across the group’s network of more than 1,500 affiliated clinics nationwide, portraying the campaign as a flagship corporate social responsibility priority aimed at bridging critical educational gaps.
“We have noticed there is a lack of awareness about organ donation among the public, and when we spoke to NTRC, we realised the lack of knowledge is also pressing among doctors as well.
“Therefore, we decided that awareness must start with doctors before it is passed down to the general public,” Dr Siva said.
Dr Siva said that because patients cultivate long-term, trusted bonds with their regular family physicians, GPs occupy an ideal vantage point to demystify organ donation and dismantle lingering cultural hesitations during routine medical consults.
“We want the public to have access to proper information surrounding this topic, which is often misunderstood with a lot of myths,” he added.
MHSB chief executive officer Dr Siva Kumar AL Kumarasamy talks about the challenges faced by GPs. — Picture by Choo Choy May
Under the initiative, family doctors will receive structured guidance on the realities of the transplantation pathway, covering clinical donor identification protocols, prevailing legal frameworks, and the delicate dynamics of next-of-kin consent.
MHSB is furnishing clinics with educational toolkits, patient-facing QR codes, and continuing professional development webinars to help doctors broach the subject naturally during primary care consultations.
The initiative also highlights the indirect role primary care plays in transplant viability. By proactively helping patients manage chronic lifestyle conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, GPs safeguard baseline organ health across the general population.
On the digital front, participating clinics will actively guide patients to register their donor pledges through the MySejahtera mobile application, tracking successful sign-ups as a tangible community impact benchmark.
Looking ahead, MHSB aims to expand the symposium into an annual fixture with broadened nationwide physician participation.