Kidney failure patients nationwide need to wait for an agonising five to 10 years before they can undergo organ transplant.

National Kidney Foundation (NKF) head of public education, Maznifah Fatah said the waiting period was quite long as only one per cent of the nation's 30 million population had pledged to donate their organs.

"This is because of the lack of public awareness on the importance of organ donation to help those in need," she said when met at an organ donation campaign held at the Besraya Headquarters, Lok Yew Toll Plaza here today.

She said at present, there were more than 19,000 kidney patients waiting for transplants.

Maznifah added that besides kidney patients, there were others who were waiting for organ transplants including heart (seven), liver (six) and lung (six).

She said the kidney foundation was organising an awareness campaign to educate the public on the importance of organ donation," she said.

Meanwhile, Besraya (M) Sdn Bhd business unit head, Md Zohir Harun said the programme which was conducted jointly with the NKF was a show of support for the organ donation campaign.

"This is the second time this programme is being conducted to encourage the public and our staff to join this campaign and become organ donors," he said.

Besraya employee Khairunnisa Md Ismail, 30, said the programme made it easy for the staff to get information on organ donation and at the same time, a medical check-up.

"Through programmes such as this, we can detect diseases early and determine if we have a health problem," she said.

Nor Arif Mustapah, 25, who patrols the Besraya highways said the programme allowed them to have a medical check-up without having to go to a health centre.

Among the free health checks conducted during the programme involve the kidneys, breasts, eyes and weight. -- Bernama