137,000 Hong Kong residents agree to be organ donors

HONG KONG, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Authorities in Hong Kong say more than 137,000 in the city have agreed to be organ donors following a government push to get more people to sign up.

Constance Chan, Hong Kong's director of health, said Saturday more than 137,000 people have signed up with the Centralized Organ Donation Register to donate their organs after they die, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The announcement came at a ceremony observing the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the CODR.

At the CODR's third anniversary in 2011, about 88,000 Hong Kong residents had registered as organ donors.